Night had fallen in Gotham once again, and the Batmobile sped through the city streets with a clear destination. Arkham Asylum. Batman had recaptured Joker and was bringing the psychopath in.
"Stay back, fool! I have a bomb… Oh, right…" Joker giggled as he stirred in the passenger seat. It didn't matter, since they had arrived at their destination, and Joker was handcuffed.
A few minutes later, Batman was standing outside of the Intensive Treatment building with Joker, and the door opened automatically, having recognized Batman as having the necessary clearance. Upon entering the facility, a number of guards and the Warden were present to meet the pair.
"Hey, Sharpie! Love what you've done with the place." Joker grinned at the aged man, who straightened his tie and glared pointedly at the maniacal clown.
"That's Warden Sharp to you. Boles!" The Warden gestured to a security guard who stepped forward.
"Yo, Frank-ay! How's the wife and kids? Ya miss me?" Joker teased the guard, only to get manhandled by the collar.
"Shut it, clown! A lotta people wanna talk to you…"
Boles then proceeded to strap Joker to a gurney that was slanted upward.
"Really? I don't mind walking…" Joker sneered. He laughed as the guards strapped him in extra tightly. "Not so tight, boys! You'll crease the suit!"
"Get that filthy degenerate out of here!" Sharp barked, and the guards moved to comply.
Batman frowned and strode in after them.
"Warden, something's not right. I'm going with him."
Yet contrary to Batman's suspicions, Joker passed through all the security checkpoints without any hassle. No tricks from him, no one trying to break him out. At least… not until the last security checkpoint, when he passed over into the cell blocks.
"Long night, Jim?" Batman casually greeted the Commissioner and accepted a handshake.
"Heh. Joker invades City Hall and holds the Mayor hostage, leaving it to me to juggle SWAT teams, the media, and you! Yeah, it's been a helluva night."
"Hopefully the last one we'll ever have with him," Batman completely understood how Gordon felt. Joker was arguably the most dangerous villain in Gotham, one that you did not take lightly. Ever.
"Hold it there! Sorry, Batman – Arkham staff only." A guard apologized as they reached the electric gate that separated them from the cells.
Gordon snorted good-naturedly.
"If anyone's more qualified, it's-"
"Look, I appreciate the assistance," the guard cut off the Commissioner abruptly, "but he'll unsettle the more violent inmates."
"I think he's talking about you, Bats!" Joker laughed as he was rigorously guided past the temporarily deactivated electric gate, having been removed from the gurney. "Don't be a stranger! You're always welcome here. Gotta say, it's good to be back!"
Gordon looked at his reticent friend, concerned.
"You okay?"
"He surrendered almost without a fight. I don't like it." Beneath his mask, his brow furrowed. Batman strode over to the window overlooking the cells just as the electric gate turned back on.
As he watched, Joker tripped in the cell block, and a guard coerced him to get back on his feet. Yet it soon became clear Joker was not as secure as they had once thought, because the deranged clown bumped the naïve guard with his shoulder and rose back to his feet. He then got a stranglehold on the guard with his handcuffs still on, choking the life out of him. The doctor that entered with the guard tried to save the guard's life, but Joker wasn't having any of that.
"Hurry! We're losin' him, Doc!" Joker unlocked his handcuffs in the struggle, and knocked the doctor over after gleefully killing the guard. Leaning over the corpse, Joker smirked and said, "The choke's on you! TA-DA!"
Joker danced a little jig and showed that he was now free. Glancing up at a camera meaningfully, he continued.
"Honey, I'm home!" Joker chortled as the second electric gate, the one that went further into the prison, deactivated. He made a run for it just as Batman succeeded in smashing through the window to enter the cell block, and the second Joker was past the electric gate, it reactivated. Turning around and making a grandiose gesture, Joker declared, "Welcome to the madhouse, Batman! I set a trap and you sprang in gloriously! Now let's get this party started."
Clenching his fists, Batman steeled himself for the first hurdle to cross – namely, defeating the numerous prisoners that had just been released from their cells. He was used to these kinds of odds, but the circumstances were fairly different. Joker was orchestrating this, so he was one step behind his arch-foe.
That was never a good thing.
Batman allowed the convicts to make the first move, one being bold enough to throw a punch at his face. The caped crusader easily caught the punch and brutally twisted the man's arm until there was a sickening crunch; then Batman slammed his opponent on the ground and moved on. He punched the next convict and delivered a roundhouse kick to the chest; a third convict attempted to get the vigilante from behind, but Batman countered by whipping around and slamming both of his hands on opposite sides of his opponent's head, disorienting him. Batman then delivered an uppercut to the man's jaw and made him crash into a corner of the room.
The fight lasted about a minute.
"I'm just warming you up, Bats! Fresh from Blackgate Correctional Facility! With a combined sentence of seven hundred fifty two years… Ding-ding-ding, it's Round Two!" Joker released the remaining prisoners from their cells, and the thugs proceeded to rush Batman. While the Dark Knight was stalled, Joker declared unapologetically, "Sorry, Bats, gotta run! I've got places to go, people to slay."
Batman growled lowly at having to play along. He didn't want to, but he might just have to call in backup. It all depended on how big of an operation this whole thing turned out to be. Prospects were not looking good.
"Jason, wait!" Barbara wheeled over to the adolescent, who was suiting up in the Batcave. Jason had only just returned from patrol, and already he was suiting back up after having witnessed the events through Batman's mask. "Bruce won't want you going in there hastily! For all we know, Bruce will have the situation contained in minutes!"
Jason snorted at the notion. This time would be different; he could feel it.
"Barb, say that again with a straight face." He smirked when the redhead hesitated. He snapped on his utility belt. "This is the Joker we're talking about here. Even if Bruce and I disagree on how that bastard should be dealt with, he's going to need as much help in there as he can get. Somehow, Joker wiggled his foot in the door, and now the inmates are running the Asylum. Even if that's not the case right now, they're going to be running it within the hour. I'm going."
Barbara chewed her bottom lip nervously and watched as Jason strode over to the equipment table and carefully selected his gear. Smoke pellets, Batarangs, a grapnel gun, a line launcher, a Batclaw, a rebreather, explosive gel, and Jason's personal favorite – a handgun that fired non-lethal rounds.
"You know Bruce doesn't want you using that…" Barbara reminded Jason, but she knew it was futile. Jason had 'compromised' enough by making the rounds non-lethal; he'd decided a couple of years ago that he would fight crime in his own way.
Regardless of what the rest of the Bat Clan thought.
"Let's just say it will likely be put to good use tonight," Jason dryly shot back. He spread his spandex-covered arms in a 'What will you do?' gesture. "You can hardly call it worse than the beatdowns Bruce has dealt over the years – I'm simply being more… efficient. I'm not gonna kill anyone, Barb. You know Bruce pulled me back from that crevice years ago."
"You still hate the Joker more than any of us. Possibly even Bruce." Barbara pointed out factually.
"I sometimes wonder about that…" Jason slipped on his mask with a scoff. He'd admitted to Jason in confidentiality that deep down, he'd wanted to kill the Joker on more than one occasion. It humanized Bruce in his mind, despite his keen resistance to the idea. Jason had a much harder personal struggle – he was nowhere near as compassionate as Bruce; the only thing that kept him from going off to kill the Joker years ago was the effect it would have on Barbara, Dick, and Alfred. Bruce… was a mixed bag, simply because of their slightly clashing beliefs; regardless, Jason would feel guilty about causing him grief as well. How could he not, when the guy gave him a home and a family? And as much as he hated to admit it, Tim had wormed his way into his heart as well. Speaking of whom… "Try and keep Tim away from Arkham tonight. We'll need someone in Gotham anyway, if we can't contain this."
Barbara nodded in understanding, before slipping a device into Jason's hand.
"Take the spare cryptographic sequencer. You never know when you'll get stuck over there – some of those rooms don't have alternate exits."
Jason quirked an eyebrow at Barbara.
"You know I don't have the codes?"
"Then get them from the Warden, he shouldn't be hard to find." Barbara replied, slightly exasperated. Her eyes softened, and she said, "Stay safe. Link up with Bruce and let's get this done. There's no way we're going to lose tonight."
Jason's lips quirked upward a little.
"Couldn't have put it better myself."
Joker had allowed Batman to go further into the Intensive Treatment Building, and the caped crusader had just saved a guard from the deranged Victor Zsasz. Oracle had let him know that Robin was on the way, so now it was only a matter of pursuing Joker and recapturing him before he got out of the building.
A pity that things were going to get worse before they got better.
"Can ya hear me? Is this thing on?" A collection of monitors flickered to life as Harley Quinn began to broadcast from somewhere in the prison. "Oh! Hiya, B-Man! Harley Quinn here. How do you like my new uniform? Pretty hot, huh? Oh, I got something to show you! One sec!"
Harley went off-screen, and then shoved the captured Warden, who was tied to an office chair, into view of the camera.
"Ta-da! I'm now subbing for the old man. Old Sharpie's never been happier! In case ya ain't figured it out, today's the Joker's big homecoming, and you're the guest of honor!"
Batman was not impressed.
"You have one chance to surrender, Quinn."
"Tempting, Bats, but no dice. Now the inmates are running the asylum. Well, technically they're Joker's goons shipped in from Blackgate, but you get the idea. Bye-bye for now!" Harley used Warden Sharp's cane to bust the camera, resulting in static on the screens.
And the hits just kept coming.
"Batman, Arkham Island just vanished off the network. Comms are acting up like crazy." Oracle reported via the two-way radio in Batman's mask.
"He's likely isolated Arkham from the grid – Joker's taken control of the security system." Batman deduced.
"That's not all he's done. Police feeds are reporting that he's planted bombs all over Gotham. Says he'll detonate them if anyone sets foot on Arkham Island."
"He's lying," Batman replied. "I know him. It's a diversion to keep people away; whatever he's planning is here, and I'm going to find out what it is."
"I'll have someone look into the bombs anyway." Tim. "You can never be too careful with the Joker. Robin should be there soon – do you want him to look into anything?"
"Not at the moment, but I'm sure something will come up. Have him get the explosive gel from the trunk of the Batmobile, and program the Batwing to take the car back to the Batcave."
"He's already a few steps ahead of you in terms of gear, but consider it done"
Batman ended the communication and proceeded to escape the 'inescapable' room that Harley left him in. The ventilation shaft he took led him to a corridor that branched to the right and to a room that was apparently now sealed off by the Joker.
"Warning: Decontamination Room. Area sealed."
Batman had caught just a glimpse, but he had seen the gas-filled room and its screaming occupants. Screaming that soon turned to forced, confused laughter.
"What is that stuff?" A guard asked helplessly at Batman's side.
"Joker Toxin! The room is filled with poison gas. Anyone caught in there is dead."
"Are you gonna get in there and help them, Batman? I think I can still see some people alive in there! They're still moving."
Wordlessly, Batman grappled up to another vent cover and pried it off the wall. He crawled through the vent to get into the room, and pulled a guard up before he fell into the thick fog of gas below. He grappled up further to save another guard from falling, as the man had attempted to get to the other side of the room. From there he glided over to a platform that was across from the extraction system, and then threw a Batarang at it to get the fans working again.
In moments, the gas was cleared out, and the automated system audibly confirmed this.
"Attention: Air purity is now at normal levels. Attention: Decontamination Room access is now permitted."
Joker's laughter could be heard over the intercom, eliciting a low growl from the vigilante. He made one last check around the room for survivors, and then pressed onward. He ran through the winding halls, following the trail that Joker evidently left behind and defeating the few Arkham prisoners dispatched to slow him down. Until finally, he reached a door with a grinning face painted on it…
Joker scowled as he watched through a security camera as the Batwing dropped off an uninvited guest, and then proceeded to fly away with the car. Well, there went that minor diversion. Oh well.
"Harley, be a dear and get that no-good assassin off his lazy ass. There's a little pest problem, and I want it gone now."
Harley squeaked at her Puddin's sharp tone, but moved to comply. Was it overkill to sic Slade Wilson on one of the Bat Brats? Perhaps, But Puddin' loved overkill, and it'd be one less migraine to deal with on this special occasion. Maybe the birdbrain's death would make B-man all the more fun to toy with.
Plus, this would give Harley the chance to get out of associating with Boles when the Commissioner was captured. Boles was sooo nauseating. A boorish buffoon with about as many brain cells as a braindead gnat. Eh. He'd be dead soon, anyway. Harley didn't pity the oaf one bit.
Joker, meanwhile, had a Bat to reunite with…
Sitting around and waiting had never been Robin's strong suit. In their line of work, that got people hurt at best and people killed at worst. Batman was trapped in the Intensive Treatment building, so that would be Robin's destination. Getting inside would prove to be difficult, as Oracle filled him in on the fact that Joker had taken control of the security system. However, she had also informed him of another way inside, after she'd pulled up the schematics of the building.
It would be wrong to make all of the doors electronic, even if the place was a prison, so there was another entrance for emergencies just like this. But obviously, it had to be made in such a way that prisoners couldn't use it as an escape route. It was situated above the electronic front door, on a small roof protected on all sides by spikes.
Easy to get to if one had something like, say, an aircraft. Like the Batwing, in this case. The door had no digital components, but was kept locked for security purposes. Robin didn't have the time to go asking for the key, so he simply picked the lock, leaving minimal damage to the door. Once inside, Robin navigated through a series of ventilation shafts to get into the first area of security that Batman had passed through. It was a gigantic room with multiple levels, and evidently it hadn't been touched by the Joker's goons just yet.
Robin hailed down a guard to get more information on the state of affairs.
"Thank goodness you're here, Robin! Batman is down in the lower levels, though we don't know exactly where. It's a madhouse in here, but thankfully they haven't tried breaking out yet."
As far as Robin knew, the only exits were here on this level. The front door and the ventilation shafts. He'd gotten inside, but it would be folly to go in further now; Joker and his goons would have to pass through here eventually if they wanted to leave, and Robin didn't want to risk missing them. Besides, he did not trust the elevator with that madman at the helm. The clown was known to drop those if he had the means to, and navigating the elevator shaft would be too time-consuming.
So Robin would wait there and intercept any goons on their way out. Batman would pursue them below, chasing them all the way up here, and Robin would do his level best to cut them off. A system that could work beautifully if handled right, but as Robin well knew at this point, nothing was ever so simple when it came to the Joker.
There would be problems. There would be bloodshed. All Robin could hope to do was minimize the damage as much as possible.
Author's Note: So, this will be a new project for me. For the first few chapters or so, there will likely be narrations of in-game events; apologies in advance if that seems too 'boring'. Yet things will definitely be changing before too long – just think of all the crises that could have been averted had Batman brought in his sidekick. The new problems that likely would have arisen.
But there's more to it than that. This isn't Batman bringing in Tim Drake; this is Batman bringing in Jason Todd in a world where he hadn't run off to try and kill the Joker. Jason is much more interesting to me as a sidekick; he lives by a different code than Batman, and to me, he would be pretty similar even in an 'ideal' world such as this, where he hasn't been tortured by the Joker. Joker's brand of torture just sped things along.
Let me make it clear that I haven't read the comics. I've gotten to know Jason through Arkham Knight, and the animated film Under the Red Hood. Any research I do will be conducted through the Arkham Wikia. Bear with me as I try to experiment with the Arkham series (minus Origins, obviously) and flesh out the Bat Clan more. It's kind of disappointing how little we saw of the Robins in those games, but also understandable with the 'loss' of Jason Todd.
I'll also be taking a slightly different approach from fics I've read; maybe the whole 'Bat family' thing is emphasized in the comics, hence the 'Bat Daddy and Sons' approach that I've seen writers take. My approach will play a little closer to the games, where Batsy never really addressed them as his 'sons', but simply addressed them by their names or superhero titles. That doesn't mean the whole family feeling isn't there; it's just that this is the Bat Clan we're talking about here. Emotional troubles abound because Bruce has such a hard time expressing himself, even when he means well. They just won't be referring to each other as 'Dad' and 'Sons' so frequently.
Lastly… don't expect sunshine and rainbows all the time. Arkham Asylum was a rollercoaster ride of emotions, as were the games proceeding it. Jason might be fine at the start, but he'll likely be changing for the 'worse' as the stories progress. Not to the point where he'll be the Arkham Knight again, but these incidents won't exactly instill the sidekick with 'faith in the system'. He might get 'better' again after Arkham City, but I haven't mapped that far yet. This is a work in-progress, so be patient with me. This chapter was more of a test drive, to get the feeling for writing for this series and to get feedback if you guys have any. I don't have a hero name for Tim yet; Jason's still Robin, though that might change in the future…
At any rate, hope you guys enjoyed.