He rounded the corner and darted down the alley. Every door he seemed to check was locked. He kept sprinting down the alley tripping over trash cans and debris, all the while part of his takings spilling out of the bag. At this point that was irrelevant after what he saw. He couldn't have seen what he thought he did. That had to be an urban legend, it just had to be.
The Batman sent his grappling hook up to the nearest building and flew up into the night. No petty criminal could ever escape the Batman and tonight would be no different. He reached the top of the building and scanned the alley below with the night vision installed in his mask and saw the perp sprinting east down the alley, the same alley that made him who he was...
This is my city, he thought, I'll be damned if you can outsmart me in it. He leapt from the building and flared out his cape, gliding silently above the alley his eyes never leaving his target.
Profusely sweating and scared to death the new found criminal was running as fast as he could. He'd just seen the Batman or what he thought was the Batman but he could never be certain and didn't want to be. If he didn't get to the hideout to meet the boss, he would certainly find out. Which was the last thing he wanted. He'd heard stories...
Reaching down at his utility belt, Batman withdrew a smoke bomb and grasped it in his right hand. He dipped lower into the alley dropping down a few feet every second judging the right time to strike.
He wasn't but two blocks away, he could make it if he kept low and sprinted every chance he got, he just knew it. He passed behind Wayne Towers and kept on moving, his breathing becoming deeper as he gasped for air, expanding his lungs to capacity. I gotta quit smoking, he thought to himself, its gonna be the death of me.
Batman's eyes never left him and he noticed that the robber was slowing in his speed and was trying with all his might to keep moving. The Dark Knight decided to strike now at his weakest point. He tossed the smoke bomb a few feet in front of the man and the smoke instantly filled the air. He heard the robber cry out in surprise as he stopped and started coughing in the smoke. Batman landed in perfect silence behind him.
With all the smoke that had suddenly engulfed him, he couldn't see a thing. Hell, he couldn't see a thing, let alone enough to allow him to keep running. He stopped in the middle of the alley way coughing and waving his hands in front of him to clear the smoke from his eyesight. It slowly began to clear and he could see in front of him again. With his eyesight and new found second wind he began to sprint down the alley again. Before he could take a step, he heard a deep meanacing voice speak behind him.
"Going somewhere?" the voice said.
The man swung to see what he never thought he would see: The Batman. He loomed above him scowling, his eyes peircing into his. Scared senseless, he began to shake.
"Uh...I...Wha...Your real?" he managed to sputter as he backed away from the shadowy figure.
"Very," he said as he began to stalk towards him, "and so is the little cold and stony down at Gotham PD."
The man was terrified as he backed into a wall. He had nowhere to go and knew he was defenseless as he began to sob. The only place he could look was down at the urine running down his pant leg.
"You don't scare me!" he tried to say in his toughest voice, but the shaking of his bottom lip stopped that from coming through.
"Judging by the piss running down your leg, I beg to differ" the Batman growled, snatching him up by his jacket. "Now who do you work for?!"
The man shaking, eyes darting back and forth trying to look for a way out, a way to reason with the Bat.
"Look, I...I don't want any trouble, I jus..."
But the man's words were cut short by the sound of beeping coming from inside his jacket. Batman set the man down and ripped open his coat. Inside was a small box. Batman, inspecting it with his eyes noticed small wires coming in and out of, as far as Batman could tell, a small television. Suddenly a very familiar face appeared on the screen.
"Hello Bats! You don't look at all surprised to see me! Why, it seems its been forever since our last little endeavor!"
"Joker."
"Why, who else did you expect? Cobblepot? No, no, no, Bats! Why, I'm hurt at the thought! And here I was going around thinking I was your favorite!"
Batman just looked at the screen, never moving, never blinking.
"Always the strong silent type, eh Bats? Well don't think I forgot our last encounter. The one where you nearly killed me in a fit of rage and tossed me back in Arkham!" the Jokers voice rising.
"You killed Robin and then crippled Batgirl. You're lucky to still be alive." Batman said nonchalantly. But inside never forgetting the mistake he had made. It had took a great deal of self control not to beat the man's brains into the pavement.
"Well that's no excuse! I was just getting rid of a pest. You know, I always hated birds. Almost as much as I hate Bats!"
"Get to the point, Clown."
"That's Clown Prince of Crime to you Batty Boy! Oh my, in all this useless conversation I forgot what it was I was going to say to you..." The Joker said, tapping his finger to his chin.
Suddenly, a huge explosion rocked Gotham. Batman turned to looked in the sky, trying to pinpoint where the explosion came from.
"Why of course! It's Gotham Hospital! Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. How could you not know?! And here you were, always so good at stopping me in the past!"
Batman turned back around and spoke to Joker menacingly, "What have you done?"
"Oh you know, just finishing what I started," the Joker said with a grin.
Batman turned and ran back down the alleyway, remembering that Barbara Gordan was in the hospital overnight for observation.