BATMAN
Batman was cornered. There was no way out. But where was the girl….
"Come on out Batman. I just want to play….. a game." The Joker said in between wild shrieks that made him sound like he just came out of an insane asylum.
Batman was unsure of what to do. Should he try to fight the Joker head on, or take his chances and try to find the exit? Wait no… he couldn't leave without the girl. He was the reason she was in danger….
The room went dead silent. The Joker's loud footsteps, hyperventilating, and rants just stopped randomly. An ominous feeling filled the room. Something was very wrong….
Batman crept out of his hiding place. The room was empty. This alarmed him immediately. Where had the Joker gone?
A strange aroma vented into the room. Smoke began to seep in from underneath the door. No, not smoke…. gas.
In the hallway he could hear loud, booming footsteps. They were approaching very slowly.
Batman's heart paced. He needed to get out of here.
The door opened slowly. The Joker entered the room with a loud, yet somewhat muffled, laughter. The sound of the Joker breathing made him sound like Darth Vader. He was hooked up to some sort of machine.
Reluctantly, Batman took a peek from his hiding place. The Joker was wearing a hazmat suit. Whatever gas the Joker had coming in through the door, it was probably toxic.
"If you don't want to come out," The Joker began, "Then this laughing gas should do the trick." He must've been holding a shotgun because Batman heard him cock one. "Now don't be shy."
There were two choices now. He could either wait for the Joker to inevitably find him, or he could fight.
The laughing gas was beginning to work its magic.
The Joker raised his gun and fired it at the ceiling. "Come on out, Batman."
Now was the time to fight.
The Joker cocked his gun again.
Batman jumped out from his hiding place and started to run towards the Joker.
BANG!
Batman felt like someone had knocked the wind out of him and sent him flying back. He had been shot. The bullet did not penetrate his suit.
Batman did his best to ignore the pain. He rose and continued for the Joker.
When Batman heard the Joker cock his gun he immediately sidestepped, barely dodging the bullets as they flew past his head.
He zigzagged his way up to the Joker as he fired his gun at him.
Finally he reached the Joker and knocked him to the ground.
"Give it up Joker." He said. "Where is she?"
The Joker's eyes flickered with insanity. "It's too late."
Batman raised his fist above the Joker's head. "WHERE IS SHE?"
The Joker raised his watch above Batman's face. He opened his mouth to speak as he pressed a button on his watch. The watched opened up and gas flew out and flew straight into his mask.
All of a sudden uncontrollable laughter consumed Batman. His arms went weak and he fell to the ground.
The Joker got off of him. "Laughing gas always does the trick. If you need me, here's my card." With that, the Joker left.
"He beat me Alfred! He beat me!" Bruce said. Letting the Joker escape had been hard on him. He was a mess this morning. His eyes were bloodshot and he had bags under them like he hadn't been sleeping well. "If I don't find that girl soon…. She'll be dead."
Bruce was a wreck. "And I don't even know where to start. I don't even know her name."
Silence filled the room. A feeling of dread overcame him.
Finally Alfred broke the silence. "What did he give you before he left sir? Maybe that holds some answers."
Bruce shook his head. "I've studied it for a while now. "It still makes no sense at all."
Alfred poured some coffee. "Here, you look like you need this."
Bruce nodded in appreciation and took a sip.
He reached in his pocket and grabbed the note the Joker had left for him. It was an envelope he had opened and studied all night. Inside were a Joker from a deck of cards and a letter from the insane clown.
"This is nonsense." Bruce said again. "Here, take a look." He handed the paper to Alfred.
Inscribed on the paper was:
PZ10123430NCHN5M
Alfred shook his head. "I don't know what it is, but he's trying to tell you something. This sick wants you to play his game." He let that sink in. "It has to mean something. It has to."
He was right. It made sense. The Joker wanted Batman to come after him.
Bruce began to contemplate that whoever the Joker really was had thought out his plan very thoroughly.
Once again the room was dead silent. It was broken when there was a knock at the door.
Bruce lit up, a smile on his face.
Finally, some good news.
Bruce was slow to get up, sore from his confrontation with the Joker.
"Well, are you going to sit there or are you gonna answer the door? Who is it anyway? I saw that look on your face?"
"Rachel," Bruce said.
Rachel's face went from a beautiful, gleaming smile to a worried one.
"What happened to you?" She pondered as Bruce closed the door behind them.
Rachel, along with Alfred were the only ones who knew of Bruce's true line of work. She knew he was the Batman.
Bruce felt slightly embarrassed. He had forgot to change so he probably looked like a homeless man.
He shrugged. "Just work." He said casually.
Rachel nodded.
They walked into the dining room at Wayne Manor. It was quite breathtaking. The marble floor complemented with various paintings and a huge chandelier made it look quite impressive.
Alfred had prepared lunch for them.
Bruce led Rachel to the middle of a long table. An elegant tablecloth depicting a noble checkerboard sheltered the body of the table.
He pulled out a chair next to him for Rachel to sit in before he sat down.
Alfred came over and on a large platter were two plates with a juicy steak on each of them. The smell was just intoxicating.
"May I get you a drink, my dear?" Alfred asked Rachel.
"A glass of water will do." She said.
Bruce looked at her and shook his head as he said. "Sorry I'm a mess. I've had a hard night at work."
Alfred set a glass of ice cold water by Rachel's steak.
"Don't worry about it Bruce. You just…. Be careful out there."
"This isn't that bad. I mean… It has been worse," he said.
Rachel sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right." She must've just gotten off work. She was still wearing her ZNN News security pass on her shirt.
"I know we've been planning this for a while." She had been gone for the last few weeks reporting on stuff outside Gotham City. "But.."
"But what?"
He sighed. "I've got this riddle or something this criminal left me after he …. Escaped. He kidnapped a girl and I feel like… If we are gonna save her… time is against us."
"This was supposed to be…. To be a chance to see you again. You're my friend Bruce."
He winced when she said the word friend. He wanted to be more than just friends….
"Let's see this riddle though," she said rather intrigued. "I'm good at these kind of things. Let's see if I can help."
He handed the paper to her. "Give it your best shot."
PZ10123430NCHN5M
She studied it for a few minutes. Suddenly her eyes lit up.
"What? What do you see?" Bruce pondered.
Rachel was getting excited. "I think it's an anagram. Look here!" She pointed at three of the letters. Z…Z…N. "ZNN news! That's what it could mean."
He wasn't exactly comforted at 'could mean' but it was all he had to work with.
Bruce considered this. "What day is it today?"
"October 30th. Why?"
He looked at all of the numbers. 10123430. The 1234 in the middle…. Maybe it was 12:34. It was a date and time. Also at the beginning and end of the anagram was a P and an M. All that was left was CH 5. Channel 5!
What would happen on October 30th at 12:34 P.M. on ZNN News?
He explained his theory to Rachel.
"What time is it?" She asked.
He looked at his watch. "12:32."
The idea itself sounded unbelievable but it was all they had.
They turned on the TV. ZZN News was normal. Nothing was out of the ordinary.
They waited.
Mid-story at 12:34, the screen went static. Then it all changed. The TV now showed a girl locked up in the dungeon!
It was the girl! Bruce recognized her!
Suddenly Rachel let out a scream.
She was in absolute shock. "That's…. that's a girl I work with at work." She stammered out.
The Joker was humming 'Row Row Row your Boat' in the background. Soon he came into frame.
"Hello Batman," he said as he was sharpening his knife. "Who exactly is the Batman? I think that is a question a lot of us want answered." He pulled out a timer. "So if you don't come out and say who you are, what your secret identity is, or the girl will die."
The girl looked at the screen. She looked absolutely terrified.
"Oh, and to convince you that I am telling the truth, that I will kill her, there are some dead cops at Knights Drive." He laughed loudly. "Meet me at Arkham asylum on Halloween night. No cops or the girl will die. Just me and you. That night you will reveal to me who you truly are… or the girl will die. Your choice! You've got 24 hours. Come to the party!"
The screen went static again.
Bruce turned off the TV. "What's that girl's name?"
"I don't know. I've haven't talked to her much. I think it Haylie. I'm not positive though."
He put his hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry…. I'll catch this guy."
She turned around. "Do you think… it could've been me? That that clown could've taken me?"
Bruce looked at her intently. Her eyes seemed to stare into his soul. "Don't think about it that way."
"What are you gonna do?"
He thought for a moment. "I'll think of something." He sounded a lot more confident than he felt.
Bruce started to walk off.
"Where are you going? If you go… the whole world will know who you are."
"Arkham Asylum. I've got work to do."
Rachel ran over to him and did something that shocked him more than seeing that girl on TV. She kissed him.
"Get this monster behind bars." She said.
Bruce was stunned. She had just kissed him. He had to push that aside for now though.
"Wish me luck."
Arkham Asylum. The insane asylum for violent criminal's gone rogue. Somehow the Joker and his henchmen had overrun the place.
He needed to win or many prisoners would be loose in Gotham City.
The police, led by Commissioner Gordon, had barricaded the place. There was no way out for the clown.
As Batman made his way stealthily to the door he realized how eerie this situation was. If there were no guards in the prison, why was it silent as if it were empty? He thought the prisoners would be making a racket as they tried to escape.
He had descended down to the door. He tried to open it. Locked.
Batman grabbed his hook gun and shot it to the roof. He used it to pull himself up.
Bruce held his breath and listened.
Dead silence.
There was a door on the ceiling that would allow him to enter the building. Painted in large letters were : ENTER… IF YOU DARE…
Before he came Alfred and him had studied the layout of the building. The place was a huge maze, a labyrinth.
Anyways, he opened the door and began his decent into the maze.
It was empty. For the first to floors there was not a soul.
Then, on ground level he heard chatter. It was coming from the end of a long hallway.
Cautiously he proceeded on with the network of interlocking hallways and passages. He peeked around the corner of the hallway. He wasn't surprised with what he saw.
In huge bold letters read: FIND ME! It was written in large red ink.
But it was what was in the lunchroom that shocked him.
It was the Joker! Wait no…
In the room, at each and every table was a Joker. He must've dressed up the prisoners identical to himself. They each had the long green, white paint covering the majority of their face with black war paint by the eyes. A red smile was painted along from their cheek to cheek.
This would be like finding a needle in a haystack.
He scanned the room for an exit. He saw one across the clown filled room.
The Joker knew he was here. There was no need to hide.
He entered the room.
Immediately it went dead quiet. They dropped everything they were doing and just stared at them. Not one moved to confront him though. They all seemed dazed. Almost like zombies.
Batman slowly made his way to the exit. He looked at the face to see if he could spot the true Joker. It was useless. They all seemed to be identical to each other.
"Come on out Joker!" Not one of them moved a muscle.
A scream came from the exit at the other side of the room.
Bruce realized this must've been where the girl was being held.
He darted for the exit. The hundred or so clowns got up and began to pursue him.
Batman got in the exit and slammed the door and locked it.
Countless fists began to slam on the door's bulletproof window. It would hold them, but not for long.
He figured he wouldn't have enough time to until he had company so he got to work.
In a small closet ahead of him he saw the door was open. A girl with long blond hair was tied up in the chair. She was sobbing loudly.
They were alone. No one else was in the area.
Batman walked toward her and put his hand on her shoulder.
"Let's go, you'll be alright." He said as he untied her arms.
"I know," she said. "But you won't," she said as she turned around. She grabbed his hand and knocked him to the ground.
When she stood up the wig fell off.
It was the Joker!
The clown pulled out his knife and lunged at Batman.
Bruce quickly evaded the attack. Now he had to counterattack. He raised his fist and punched the Joker in the mouth.
The Joker had begun to bleed in his mouth but shot him a wicked smile.
He jumped on Batman and knocked him to the floor. The clown grabbed his knife and stabbed it into the cheek on his mask. "Let's put a smile on that face!" He pulled the knife through to the other side of the mask. It did not penetrate the mask, but it infuriated Batman!
"See, you look better already." He let a wild laugh out.
Batman pushed him off and began to punch him immediately. He was fueled with rage. One of his punches blasted the clown to the floor.
The Joker had been laughing. "This has been fun."
Then with one, final punch, he knocked the Joker out for good.
He pulled out his phone and dialed 911. "Hello Commissioner Gordon, I've got the Joker!"
After Gordon had came in and put the prisoners back in their cells they discovered that the kidnapped girl had been dressed up as one of the Joker prisoners.
Somehow, during all of this, the Joker and woken up and escaped.
Batman suspected he got help somehow, but all they knew was that he was missing and needed to be brought in for the crimes he had committed.
After the girl had been questioned by police, Bruce, still in his Batman suit, ran into her.
"T-t-thank you for saving me," She said. The girl was still traumatized from this near death experience.
"Just doing my job," He went to go shake her hand. "Take care, Haylie."
Before he left he heard her say something. "Haylie? My name's not Haylie. It's Harley," she said. "Harley Quinn."