The Knight is the darkest just before the dawn
Part One: A death in the family
Dr. Albert Tenamann quietly boxed up the remains of his personal data. He took one final look around the laboratory as he prepared to lock the door for the last time. The project that he had put the last few years of his life into was over, as far as he was concerned. He'd was horrified to discover that the think tank funding his research was actually associated with the military, and that his research was intended to be used to control weapons of mass destruction. He had hoped to be able to cure various forms of brain disorders, and extend the human life span with computer augmentation of the brain. Alas, his dreams had been shattered, all the alternate avenues of funding that he held out hope for had fallen through one by one. Tenamann finally decided that he'd rather destroy his research than let the military pervert it.
Suddenly, the door burst open and several masked men entered the room. Before he could react, a hand was clamped over his mouth and nose and he was overcome by a powerful vapor. His head started to spin and his vision grayed out.
When he awoke, Tenamann found himself in a dimly lit windowless room, lying on a bed with a lumpy mattress. He heard the creaking of a door open and a very strange looking person entered the room. His visitor wore a day-glow green and pink jacket. His face was stark white, his lips were painted with a vivid red lipstick that exaggerated the size of his mouth, giving him a clown like appearance. Albert knew who this man was from the news reports on TV.
"Let me apologize for the way you were invited here, Doctor." The man said sweetly. "I needed your coming here to be a secret, and I couldn't allow you to refuse my invitation."
Tenamann stood up and confronted his abductor. "I know who and what you are, Joker," he said.
"I guess my fame precedes me." The Joker shrugged his shoulders. "No matter. In any case, please consider yourself my guest. If you agree to work for me, you will be very well treated and richly rewarded. If not, well your body will eventually be found floating in the Gotham river."
"What is it you want from me?" Tenamann asked.
"I am offering you the opportunity to complete your research." the Joker replied. " I will provide you with everything that you require, including the one thing you have so far not been able to obtain; a volunteer subject."
"If you think that I would experiment on one of your victims, you are quite mistaken!" Tenamann stated, standing his ground.
"Set you mind at ease, doctor." The Joker smiled, waving his hands. "Your subject will be quite willing to volunteer without any coercion. You see, I will be your test subject!"
"You?" Tenamann asked with a look of surprise. "Why?"
"Because I have no wish to die." The Joker answered. "Though I may look like the figure of robust health, my body and brain are slowly wasting away from the poisons that disfigured me years ago. I know all too well exactly how much longer I have to live. Your research is the only thing that might extend my life, by putting my mind in a robot body."
"Even if I agree to this, I assume I am still your prisoner?" Tenamann questioned.
"Well I can't let you go free just yet." The Joker replied. "I am a wanted man, after all. I can't take a chance of your leading the police to me. You will be given more suitable quarters, and everything you need."
"And afterwards?" Tenamann asked.
"If you totally succeed, I will effectively have a new identity and nobody will be able to harm me." The Joker laughed. "You won't be a danger to me. In fact, nobody will!"
The Joker held out a pad of paper and a pen.
"You don't have to shake hands with me, or sign your life away in blood if you agree." The Joker laughed. "Just give me a shopping list of everything that you require, and we can start."
Tenamann hesitated for a moment, and then took the pen and paper from the Joker. He started to write.
Robin pulled the bat-binoculars from his utility belt and observed the warehouse from a distance. The windows were dirty to the point of being mostly translucent, and he could just barely make out the silhouette of two men gaged and tied up in chairs. Perhaps the police intell was correct for a change and the two kidnapped scientists were actually here.
Robin knew that Batman's instructions were to scout out the place and not take any actions on his own, but the warehouse appeared to be empty except for the two kidnappees. The boy wonder crept up on the building silently, keeping to the shadows as much as possible. He removed a high gain hearing intensifier from his utility belt, and attached the sound pickup to a window with a suction cup. Placing the headphones in his ears he listened for any signs of occupants inside the building. Other than the sound of a fan motor running somewhere, and distant traffic in the street he heard nothing. Robin tip-toed around the building, ninety degrees to the alley side wall and repeated his listening. The high gain amplifier picked up the sound of a distant subway train two blocks away in the underground, but nothing else.
Robin tried to peek through the windows but he could make out little inside the dimly lit room through the dirty glass. The two men were in chairs facing a concrete block wall, with only their backs visible to him. At the far corner of the large area of the empty warehouse was a single door leading to the dark alley on the side of the building. It was an easy shot from there to where the two scientists were tied up. Robin decided to chance it. He first used his bat-cellphone to send a quick text to his partner who was busy elsewhere.
Batman lay in wait by the computer laboratory building inside the MIT campus. The FBI had uncovered a plot to kidnap yet another scientist, an IBM fellow who worked out of the computer science department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. According the Feds, the plot they had uncovered involved men posing as electricians that would enter the campus in a van. The lead tied the plot back to the Joker's gang. Batman had carefully checked out the intell using the Bat-computer, and had come up with a high confidence rating on the information. The only problem was that the Gotham City police had also gotten a tip on the location of the Joker's hideout in the warehouse district of Gotham's lower east side where they suspected he had the two missing scientists held up. Batman didn't like coincidences, and he suspected that one of the tips was a wild goose chase to divert him from the other. Against his better judgment, he let Robin talk him into freeing the kidnappees, while he lay in wait for the Joker and his men. He hoped that he had taken on the more dangerous of the two assignments for himself.
The last class of the evening was breaking up, and the students were leaving the computer department building. Batman spotted the targeted professor and kept behind him in the shadows, within easy reach. It was then that a white van turned a corner, passing by the building. The vehicle was moving slowly, and the driver pulled into a parking spot and switched off his engine. As he exited the van, the Batman grabbed him in a half-Nelson. The man turned to face the caped crusader, and recognized the hero.
"Batman? What do you want with me?" he asked.
Batman carefully frisked him and found no weapons.
"I need you to let me see the inside of your van, if you don't mind" Batman told him.
"Sure, no problem!" the driver stammered. He walked carefully around to the back of the van and fumbled nervously to get the key in the lock to open the door. The inside of the van held the usual assortment of tools, conduit pipe, and wire that one would expect inside of an electrician's work vehicle. As the man went to close the rear door, Batman noticed a sheet of paper attached to the inside with duct tape. Written on it in green and pink crayon was a taunting message.
"Gotcha, Bat-Fink!"
"How did THAT get there?" the van's driver asked.
"It looks like we've both been used and made a fools of." Batman sighed. "I'm sorry to have troubled you, citizen."
Batman now knew that he'd let Robin walk into a lion's den by himself. Phone in hand, he quickly ran toward the Batmobile to return to Gotham as quickly as possible. Tearing down the Mass Pike at 120mph he knew he would probably not make it in time. He hoped that Robin would see his text message before doing anything stupid.
Robin slowly pulled the door open just enough to slip inside. The large open area of the warehouse was lit by only a few low wattage bulbs hanging from the ceiling by long wires ending in sockets. As the boy wonder inched toward the two men by the wall he could feel that something was wrong. A tingle crept up his spine in warning, though he didn't see or hear anything obvious. As he got closer he realized too late what he was missing, the two men hadn't moved an inch since he'd first seen their shadows through the dirty windows. Before he could place a hand on one of their shoulders he already knew that he'd been duped, they were dummies!
Robin heard a low hiss, followed by the sharp pain of a dart striking him in the butt. He yanked the missile out and turned quickly to see the Joker with an air rifle in his hand, laughing at him.
"Well boy blunder, it looks like my little trap worked. Only I don't see Bat-Fink anywhere? Where is he? Did he send a boy to do a man's job?"
Robin tried to move, but his head was already spinning from the drug that had been injected into him.
"Don't worry, it's not poison" The Joker smiled. "Just enough knock out juice to take some of the fight out of you."
Robin felt his legs give out from under him and he landed on the floor. He looked up as the white faced clown in the green and pink outfit slowly approached him.
"You know, I REALLY had hoped that your partner would have accepted my invitation to this little party. He's the one I wanted to dance with, but I guess you'll have to do for now." Joker cackled in a satanic voice. Robin tried to back away, but the Joker was faster and swung the tail stock of the rifle across the back of his head. Robin saw stars and fell to the floor.
"Get his boots!" The Joker called to a henchmen who suddenly appeared from out of nowhere. He was a tough looking plug-ugly, with a face full of scars and covered with beard stubble. Joker's associate grabbed Robin by his legs and untied his right boot, and yanked it free from the foot. He repeated the act on the left before removing the boy wonder's long stockings as well.
The Joker then quickly tied Robin's ankles together with some heavy rope. He grabbed Robin by his left ankle and pulled him across the floor sending his head crashing into a concrete pillar.
"Tickle, tickle!" Joker laughed as he rubbed the bottom of a foot before letting go.
The clown prince then slapped a pair of handcuffs tightly onto Robins wrists, squeezing them tight as hard as he could to limit the circulation of blood in the boy's hands.
Robin looked up though a blurry haze at the Joker, who sat on his haunches to lecture him.
"Do you think this is clown white I wear on my face?" He asked.
"Well it is not! What you see is my natural skin color after Bat-Fink dropped me into a vat of toxic sludge many years ago. My skin is now without any pigment at all. The makeup I wear helps to blend in the uneven parts. So you see, Bat-fink made me what I am today. I've always wanted to thank him properly, but he never gives me the chance. I guess I'll have to take my pound of flesh out of you instead!"
Joker held out his hand and his henchman tossed him a large,heavy steel crowbar.
"Payback time!" he laughed swinging the weapon at Robin and striking him in the left kidney.
"Did that hurt much?" the Joker asked sincerely. "Let me try it again."
This time the crowbar struck Robins left calf, making a sickening crunching sound as Robin's leg bones shattered.
Robin winched in pain, but refused to cry out. By now the Joker's torment had caused his body's release of adrenaline to completely overcome the effects of the tranquilizer dart.
"My my, you are taking this like a man, I under estimated you." The Joker mocked.
This time he used his foot, kicking Robin in the balls.
"How did THAT feel? Did you enjoy that?" The clown laughed.
The Bat-Mobile weaved in and out of traffic on I-95 cutting off several Connecticut state troopers. For a few minutes the batmobile was followed by a small convoy of police cars, but the batman had little trouble out running them. The cops soon gave up their pursuit of the batmobile, which was moving too fast for their police interceptors. Soon all they could see of the black batmobile was the orange glow of its jet exhaust.
Robin painfully crawled away from the Joker on hands and knees, leaving a trail of blood on the floor.
"Don't avoid me!" the Joker roared, as he took a swing at Robins left knee, smashing it.
Tears came to Robin's eyes, but he bit his tongue and refused to cry out from the pain. The Joker responded by smashing the crow bar across his chest, breaking a few ribs.
Robin coughed and spat up blood. "You sadistic fiend!" he blurted out.
"Now now, flattery will get you nowhere!" the clown responded.
Joker glanced at his watch and smiled.
"Oh dear, I almost forgot, I got you a present!" he said. "It's getting late, I'd better unwrap it before I go."
The Joker made a gesture with his hand and his henchman wheeled over a box on a hand truck. The clown opened the bottom of the box and lifted it off the truck, leaving a large square device on the floor. The joker pressed a button, and a large numeric display lit up. It was a clock, counting down.
"Thought I'd warm you up a bit, this place is rather drafty." the Joker laughed.
The clown and the plug-ugly walked through the door that Robin had opened, and the boy wonder could hear him baring it. The timer indicated just a few minutes remaining.
The Batmobile smashed through the toll booth on the Wheatstone bridge at over 100 mph. The caped crusader roared through the empty streets of Gotham's business districts, now only a few miles from the Joker's warehouse. Batman prayed he'd make it in time.
Robin managed to pull himself toward the door on the other side of the room to reach up for the door handle. He yanked hard on it, but it wouldn't open. The Joker had chained that one on the outside as well. The timer now indicated just seconds remaining.
Batman stopped the jet powered car just yards away from the building. No sooner than he had leaped out of the vehicle, there was a tremendous explosion that caused a shock wave sending him flying backwards and smashing him into a building on the other side of the street. Huge chunks of flying debris rained down all over, Batman had to duck under an overhang for protection. His ears rang from the roar of the blast despite the built in hearing protection of his cowl.
It took the Gotham fire department several hours to put the fires out and clear away enough of the debris to allow anyone to get close the the remains of the building. Several buildings on either side of the warehouse had also been destroyed and their combined debris formed a huge mountain. Batman lead the way into the remains of the warehouse as heavy machinery lifted tons of steel girders, and brick. Finally, deep in the wreckage, the caped crusader found Jason's badly charred and mangled body. Batman gingerly carried the remains of his companion away from the hole in the ground, and lay him down in the rear of the batmobile.
Bruce Wayne and Alfred were the only two mourners at Jason's funeral. It had been a private ceremony concluding in the small cemetery on the grounds of the Wayne estate.
"I'm going to find that bastard and kill him!" Bruce whispered to Alfred. "The Joker has crossed my path once too often!"
"If you stoop to revenge, you will need to dig two graves, Bruce." Alfred replied. "One for your victim, and another for yourself."
"I am very well aware of that saying." Bruce answered. "It is actually somewhat comforting. I really don't feel life is worth living anymore."
"I may not be a detective," Alfred stated, "But even I can see that something deeper is happening here. The Joker was clearly hatching some master plot, and the events of this week were only a small part of it."
Bruce took a deep breath and sighed. "You may be right Alfred. I guess the Batman needs to figure out this mystery before the good citizens of this city suffer a far worse fate than poor Robin did."
Alfred patted Bruce on the shoulder. "Don't forget that you also have a commitment to the annual Wayne Foundation technology seminar."
"Yes, I almost forgot about that." Bruce responded. "My heart isn't in it, but I know that it's important. The good work of the foundation must continue. I may need you to cover for me Alfred, but Mr. Wayne will make at least a token appearance."