Chapter One
Part One, Old Times
Gotham. So many things to him registered something recognizable about it. Though none of them were good.
Every night brought out so many different criminals but all with the same crimes. Again and again lives were put on the line...not just theirs...but innocent's as well. And every night...he knew that he missed one...that someone died...and though others would deny it...he would always blame himself.
A scream echoed off of the rooftops surrounding him, his body stiffening as it reverberated back into his range. The white slots in his cowl narrowed, his body falling idly from the perch he'd been sitting in all night...just waiting.
Gotham's crimson red skies open up from above, releasing with it polluted droplets to cover a polluted city. Nature's poor attempt to wash away the filth that it's inhabitants so carelessly create...the filth they thrive in.
The smell of recently wet pavement caressed his nose as he landed in the street, a homeless man tensing up at the sheer sight of "The Batman."
"Come on lady, give me the damn money."
A young man, no older than 17, holds a knife on a woman twice his age, her wrinkled face twisted in a blinding terror.
Lunging at him, Batman easily removed the weapon from his already shaking fingertips, not even bothering to say anything to him as he cuffed him to a drainpipe. The police would find him in a few hours, in the meantime he'd know what it was like to be mugged.
P2
Robin sighed loudly, the prolonged night filled with nothing but a couple punks and a potential monster...to his complete dismay, it had turned out to be a dog.
He ran his gloved hands through his hair, feeling the first drops of the rain hitting his wrist.
"Great." He uttered, sitting motionless above the city, the thick clouds and now predictable rain storm dampening his mood even further.
P3
Joker laid on his back, watching his chest rise up and down, rhythmically blocking the horrific sight of Pamela mostly nude, and her somewhat plush new flower plant. Mentally he grumbled to himself about the fairness of her getting several privileges, but they wouldn't even let him take a paper clip out of the recreation room.
Snorting lightly, he thought of the many ways to kill an on call doctor with a paper clip.
"What're you looking at, Joker?"
Pamela glared at him, gently running her fingers over the pedals of her baby.
He sat up, smiling as pleasantly as possible,
"Just wondering how much sawing would be necessary to decapitate you with your rose's thorns."
Her retaliation is cut short by a guard scuffing his way over to them, his oversized waist severing any hope they had of catching a glimpse at each other. Scratching himself for a few minutes, the man eyes them both suspiciously, then continues on his way down the hallway of the insane.
Deep in the recesses of his mind, Joker thought of how he'd kill him.
Chapter 1
Part Two, Things Change
The sounds of her fingers hitting the keys drowned out the sound of her heart beating, small beads of perspiration collecting on her brow. She brushed her hair out of her face, adjusting her glasses before taking a deep breath. She didn't have much time.
"What are you playing?"
Dick leaned over her shoulder, his mask resting gently between his index finger and his thumb.
She X'd out the box, feeling a slight warmth build on the back of her neck and ears. She hated how good he was at sneaking up behind her,
"Oh, nothing. Just trying to kill some time."
He smiled, sitting partially up against her desk and folding his arms,
"No kidding. I don't think I've ever seen this city so quiet."
The water running down his suit dripped onto her papers, blurring the ink and ruining some of her research, "Do you mind?"
He paused, a flash from the window catching both their attention. The news had forecasted clear skies, and warm wind fronts for the duration of the evening. The water cascading down the rooftops of the blackened city presented no shock to either of them.
Dick half smiled, gesturing towards the computer screen,
"Let me play."
P2
"And you said..."
The guard stares at the young man around 23 fidgeting in front of him, utter mistrust stewing within his plump gut. This guy was up to something. No innocent sweats that much.
The man in the suit swallowed deeply, pulling an ID out of his jacket,
"I'm his lawyer."
He took the ID, examining it thoroughly...it looked real enough...
"Listen, I can't let you into the facility this late at night, even if you are his attorney. If you're who you said you are, then you'd know that."
He held up his finger in protest, trying desperately to plead his case.
"No, you don't understand. He's very particular. This was already approved by Doc-"
The security officer shook his head, standing up off of his stool to block the entrance to the prisoner's block.
"Sorry, mac. You'll just have to come back tomorrow."
While the two men argued, something buzzed beneath their feet, swerving around the metal detector and into the blackness...towards the cells.
P3
Joker giggled to himself, blowing hot air onto his glass and writing things for Pam to read.
She snorted in disgust, trying vainly to ignore his childish attempts to anger her. One of them was even detailed enough to show her head being severed from her naked body.
"You're sick."
She seethed.
He laughed, suggestively touching the steam drawn Pam with his finger before rubbing it away. He could do this all night.
He exhaled again, a fresh canvas laid out before him.
Just as he began to etch out Poison Ivy being eaten by one of her plants, his attention was diverted...a low buzzing echoing through the corridor.
"Shut up, JOKER!"
He raised his hands in front of his face,
"Not me, toots."
The toy zipped by them, Joker's face smashing against the pane to get a better look. What the hell was that?
A blinding light erupted from the hallway, flames and an ear shattering boom engulfing Arkham Asylum and all those inside.
Chapter 1
Part three, Lost
"Whoa!"
Oracle minimized the pinball game, a flashing red light in the corner of her screen interrupting her tedious process of beating Dick's score.
Dick, who'd been digging into her fridge while waiting for his turn, quickly was back by her side, finishing chewing the chinese food he'd stolen and reading over her shoulder.
"Arkham Asylum."
She nodded, her fingers insanely depressing multiple keys.
"I'm trying to figure out what happened...about a million alarms went off at once."
He went to touch one of her keyboards, but retracted instantly as his hand was smacked,
"You should check the police frequency."
She looked at him with a smirk, adjusting her glasses on her face,
"This isn't my first time, Grayson."
He smiled lightly, taking a step back to let her work,
"Sorry."
She accessed the police radio, the voice on the other end making her stomach knot.
The tone was unsteady, shaken by something they couldn't see.
"Oh god..."
"3589, please respond. Can you see anyone?"
The dispatcher sounded somewhat urgent at the officer's long pause.
Finally he answers,
"No, dispatch. The explosion knocked out half the building...we can't get to them."
In the background Barb and Dick could hear people screaming for help...some already dying.
P2
Joker opened one eye at a time, the massive amounts of pain coursing through his body overwhelming all other senses. He couldn't remember exactly what happened, but he...thought he saw a toy...
He moaned lightly, rolling over onto his back with a wince. Everything was spinning around him, the food in his stomach threatening to withdraw if the room didn't settle in one place.
Flames and smoke filled the hallway, but as he sat up he could still see Pam across the way, either unconscious or dead. He laughed to himself as he shoved himself up from the ground, the thought of her lifeless body laying there giving him quite a bit of amusement.
He looked around, taking in the damage surrounding him.
The roof had collapsed from above, clouds of black swirling out towards the sky as spouts of rain created a waterfall effect on the broken down rubble. Most of the plexiglass walls stopping the inmates from leaving were either broken, or completely gone, sharp bits of them scattered across the charred floor.
Padding himself down, he checked for any fatal hits.
His face was mildly cut up, and he was pretty sure he'd bruised his bottom two ribs, but all in all, he was no worse for wear. He grinned, thinking that maybe this wasn't so bad after all. This revolving door had been busted wide open.
Kicking his foot against an already practically shattered door, he cleared the way for his exit, getting halfway up the steepest part of the cave-in before looking back down to see...Harley.
He climbed carefully back to the floor, walking through a large burst in her cell glass.
"Harl?"
Rolling her over, he felt for her pulse. Unable to find it, he stood up, and sighed,
"Tough luck, Kiddo."
Without even so much as looking back at her, Joker began crawling up the failing structure again, almost making it to the top...
His fingers slipped, everything seemingly slowing down for him as he fell several feet from the ceiling to the ground. He tried to grab a hold of something...anything...but couldn't quite reach.
The back of his skull cracked onto the concrete, all he'd recall when he awoke would be a flash of white and red followed directly by ebony night.
P3
Batman watched the smoke billow out of the asylum, silently wondering to himself who was still alive inside of there...both innocent and insane.
Commissioner James Gordon approached him, running his thumb along the bridge of his nose while trying to find words to speak.
He instead pulled a cigarette out of his pocket, holding his hand over it to block the wind and rain as he lit it.
"The fire department's on the way."
His face remained emotionless...so many times...so many people dead. Could he have stopped this?
"What happened here, Jim?"
Jim shook his head, pushing the glasses back up onto his face,
"The door guard said no one had gone in or out all night except the doctors." He points his thumb towards the man wrapped in a green and torn blanket, shock setting in enough to already be creating bags under his eyes, and a white tone to his skin. "Said this clown was trying to get by when it happened. Wanted to visit his client."
Batman turned to the Commissioner, his cape wrapping completely around his body as another gust of wind tussled it about.
"Who's his client?"
Jim took another drag and sighed, exhaling smoke as he spoke,
"Joker."
Chapter 1
Part four, Blood Sucking
The grass stuck to all exposed parts of his skin, crimson streams of red falling down his face and dripping onto the dampened soil.
He moaned, touching the back of his head with his already mud caked fingers. Was that large bump there before? He couldn't seem to think clearly...
The flashing lights to his right faded in and out of darkness, a few hard blinks straightening out his blurred vision. The blobs of green, white, red and gray suddenly focused, a distant Batman standing sullenly next to Jim Gordon.
Shakily he pushed himself from the ground, let out a small giggle, and staggered towards the woods, catching a bit of his jumpsuit on a bush before diving out of sight.
P2
Batman concentrated on the woods for a few more seconds, convincing himself that what he saw must've been nothing more than a trick of the eye.
"Joker doesn't have a lawyer."
Jim shook his head, dropped the cigarette on the ground, then stepped on it.
"We haven't had the chance to-"
Batman was already walking away, zig zagging through the officers and firemen to get to the attorney. The short man jumped slightly as he turned to see the shadow standing behind him, two white eyes boring into his soul.
"Why were you here?"
He jittered about, clinging desperately to his blanket with his boney fingers,
"T-to see The Joker."
Batman stepped closer to him, hovering over his head like the storm that hung above the city.
"Why."
He swallowed deeply, running his hand nervously over his hair,
"I had an appointment...he...well I'd been called earlier...someone told me I had clearance to see him only at night because he was nervous around people."
His face didn't shift at all,
"Who called you?"
Backing up a bit, but running into the ambulance, the man half smiled,
"I-I...I don't remember his name...some doctor. He said the state had put me on his case...The Joker's I mean...I tried to turn him down, I mean Christ man, it's THE JOKER...but he said I couldn't...said...well I had to take the job."
Batman stared at him, knowing he wasn't sharing everything he knew...yet.
P3
"Why am I always the last to know?"
Robin complained as he swung from the rooftops towards Arkham, flipping over a telephone wire and landing gracefully in the middle of the street as he spotted another mugger attacking an old woman.
His fist connected perfectly with the man's jaw, then a knee with his gut, the guy buckling almost instantly under the strain against his nimble body.
"Man, they just keep getting weaker."
Cuffing him, Tim took off again, Oracle's voice chiming over his communicator bringing an anticipation for action,
"Batman's on it, Robin, you can go home."
He sighed, obviously annoyed,
"Okay. Robin out."
Dammit, he thought, this night sucked.
