Hi again! In case anyone reads this chapter title and is wondering, "What in the world is Rothbart?" Well, lemme give you some history (if you don't already know), Rothbart (or Von Rothbart) is the central antagonist (bad guy) in the ballet Swan Lake. *Super Long Explaination* XD (Disregard if you already know).

Asides from a ballet, what's Swan Lake? Swan Lake's story is about a Princess named Odette who falls in love with a Prince who wants to marry her. However, the jealous antagonist, Rothbart, steals Odette away and turns her into "The White Swan." He also uses his own daughter, Odile, to become "The Black Swan" (which is Odette's lookalike) to fool the Prince. Because, if in the case of Odette being "The White Swan" and the Prince vows his eternal love to another, she is a swan forever.

The ballet features two endings. The happy ending: where Odette turns back into a human and she and the Prince destroys Rothbart. They live happily ever after, with a bunch of white swans dancing in front of the two of them. And the sad ending (the one featured in my story): where the Prince claims his eternal love for Odile instead of Odette. Odette, realizing she will never be with the one she loves, flies off to die in the dance "The Dying Swan." Upon realizing what a foolish mistake he's made, the Prince goes to die after her. Lovely ending, isn't it? (ha)

I'm not sure about you readers, but I love ballet. I find it full of culture and entertainment (for the most part). Swan Lake is one of my more favorite ballets. If you think you'd be a ballet person, look up "Swan Lake ballet" on YouTube - they probably have the whole thing posted on there. If you aren't a ballet person but like music, check out the famous music from Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky - it's wonderful. At the very least, watch a ballerina dance "The Dying Swan", it's beautiful. And if you don't really care about all that, but like my fanfiction, I think that's just glorious (LOL).

Thanks so much to all of my readers out there! Deviantart members or not. Love it when I get pleasant feedback.

In case anyone ever wonders, although I love drawing scenes to my own fanfiction, if any of you feel so inspired by any of my writing - feel more than free to draw it, I'd love it.

Anyways, enough of the blabber, here's chapter three

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Chapter Three: Rothbart

Batman weaved in and out of traffic quickly while in his pod. He rushed to the abandoned warehouse on Thirty-Fourth and Main Street. His tires skid as he parked outside
the dark and decaying building. He pressed on his left ear to talk to Lucius, "I'm in." He said, "Where's the victim located?"

"Victim is located on the top floor." He instructed, "Victim's name: Frank Gibbs, he's this year's Loebner prize winner. Be careful, we're sure the place is booby trapped."

"So am I." He replied, "And what's Loebner?"

"It's a test to see who creates the most intelligent A.I., apparently Frank really beat everyone else out this year." Lucius elaborated, "The police are on their way, so be on
the lookout for that too."

"Will do. Thanks Lucius." Batman made his way into the cobweb filled, dark warehouse. He grappled his way up the levels of the warehouse, some of the floors collapsing as he made his way up. Finally, and unexpectedly, he found the victim. There stood Frank, a screen in front of his face as he dangled over a rigged floor. If triggered, the
floor would collapse and Frank would drop to his death.

"Frank." Batman said calmly, causing the man to tremble and whimper, he continued, "It's okay Frank. You're not going to die today."

Walking over to Frank, Batman noticed the metallic clasps around his arms.

"They won't come off!" Frank said, "Th-they won't come off unless I press the red button and say the right answer!"

A small stick with a red button on the end was taped into Frank's hand.

"Hm..." Batman pondered, and pressed his left ear again, "Lucius, something's not right here. I'm with Frank, there were no traps, no games. Just an open victim. He has a
button in his hand. Could you by any chance track the button when I press it?"

"...That is strange." Lucius agreed, "Yeah, I think I could manage that. Alright, you free Mr. Gibbs and I'll try and figure out what's going on."

Turning his attention back to Frank, Batman read the screen in front of him, the letters all in green, "Riddle me this: A man jumps out of a 20-story building. He falls all the
way to the ground below, and lands on solid concrete with nothing to cushion his fall. The man gets up, still alive and completely uninjured. How is this possible?"

Batman smirked, as the answer was all too easy, he pressed the button in Frank's hand, "That's easy, the man may have been in a 20-story building... but he was only on
the first floor."

"Batman! HAH!" The voice on the other end replied curtly, "You may have gotten the right answer, but no matter, Frank had this coming! Hahahahaha!"

With that, the metal clasps released on Franks arms as he began to plummet towards the ground. Fortunately, Batman grappled an iron stud sticking out of the ceiling and dove
after Frank, saving him.

"We've got him tracked and surrounded." Lucius informed him, "He's in the basement of the same warehouse. If you flush him out, we've got'em."

"Sure thing." Batman performed a gentle glide to the ground, Frank in hand.

"Oh! Thank you so much Batman!" He sighed, sweating.

"No problem. The police are just outside, let them know their green suited murderer will be out shortly too." He instructed.

Frank nodded and ran outside. Batman ran down the stairs he'd walked past just a few moments ago. Sure enough, there sat a sort-of lanky man in a green suit, hunched over
and looking at computer screens that monitered the outside of the building.

"Those stupid cops, they'll never suspect to look down here..." He muttered to himself.

"But I did." Batman made his presence known.

"What?!" The man turned around, "How did you-?!"

"And you are?" Batman was not impressed.

With that question, the man suddenly had an arrogance sweep over him, "Why I'm the Riddler! No one can beat my riddles. And even if they do... they don't." He bragged.

"Then how did I manage to save Frank and find you?" Batman questioned.

The Riddler merely laughed it off, "Haha ho! Oh Batman, my good friend. You fail to see the true meaning. Although you saved one life, it may not be everything you thought it would be."

"You're coming with me." Batman grabbed him, forcing him up the stairs of the basement.

"Very well!" He said nonchalantly, "It seems I have no other choice..."

Before facing the cops, Riddler smirked and said only to Batman, "Riddle me this, Batman: I am tall and graceful, but only when grown. Grey, white and black, but only sometimes shown. What am I?"

Batman pushed the Riddler out amongst the police and receded back into the darkness, "Lucius, did you hear that?"

"Sure did," He replied, "I'm on it."

"Anna's ballet is over, she should be headed home by now." He said, then gave it more thought, "It's a swan, the answer is a swan."

"Of course it is." Lucius sounded distraught, "You're not going to like what I'm about to tell you..."

"I had a feeling about that..." He replied, now heading back towards the theatre.

"Wilson Fisk is the one who bought out the theatre. He may not have bought it directly, but he's got everything to do with it..."

"I knew something didn't seem quite right." Batman thought out loud, "Any particular reason why he wanted to buy the theatre?"

"Money, we're sure." Lucius said.

"I don't think he's the only one in on this..." Batman flew over the buildings of Gotham, mauling over the puzzle in his head. It was all so complicated, yet so simple. But, unfortunately, the mastermind escaped his thoughts, "If you can, have them evacuate the theatre as quick as possible, I'm sure there's going to be an attack on the people there."

"Already ahead of you."

-

Anna lifted her arms up, looked towards the ceiling and fell behind the props and scenery. The white swan died, the prince fell after and Anna had again completed another stunning performance. Smiling, Anna walked out to take several bows in front of an enthusiastic audience. Still curious where Bruce had gone off to, she looked at his seat one last time.

"Superb job tonight Anna!" Her manager complemented, "So passionate for a first 'dying swan' performance."

"Thanks!" She glowed, "You know, there was something more meaningful about this ending compared to the other."

"Oh?" He wondered, "What do you mean?"

"Just the thought of death, opposed to living without the one you love." She explained, "There's something terribly romantic about that."

"Haha," He laughed, patting her on the shoulder and began to walk away, "Indeed, Anna. Fantastic job."

Anna smiled, patting her face with a towel she'd grabbed backstage. Shutting the door to her dressing room, Anna took off her feathers and took out her bun,letting her long hair flow. She sighed and got dressed back in her clothes she'd worn upon arriving. As Anna leaned over the sink to wash the makeup off her face, she heard rustling outside of her dressing room. She cracked open her door and peered out at one of the security guards, of whom was attempting to suffocate Madison.

"No...NO!" Madison screamed, "PLEASE!" Her eyes met with Anna's as she stretched out her arm towards her, "ANNA!"

Anna couldn't help but tremble at the sight of the size of the man, but she was convinced she had to do something or no one else would. Luckily for her, Kevin Dawes was all about his daughter's safety and made her take self defense classes since she was a small child. How naieve she'd been to think she'd never have to use it, especially at her place of work. Anna took courage and opened the door to her room.

"Hey you!" She called over to the big guy, "What's your problem?!"

"Hm?" He grunted, turning to face her. Suddenly, he dropped an unconcious Madison. Upon getting a look at her, he laughed, "Awww, what a cute little girl!
You gonna curtsey for me?! BAH HAhahaha!"

Anna was completely put out by his arrogant demeanor, "You jerk!" She proceeded to attack him with a series of kicks that he didn't expect. He lugged a few punches at her, but was far too big and slow. Anna, being small, nimble and quick, was able to flip circles around him. Eventually, one of her kicks landed right on his left temple, knocking him out cold. Anna sighed and curtsied next to his body. Unfortunately, two other security guards who were supposed to be watching over her, happened to not be security guards.

"Did you see that?!" One of them exclaimed.
"Yeah!" The other said, "I think she needs to be punished!"

Anna readied herself for another fight. Until, someone interrupted them, pushing past the guards.
"Get out of the way, you're scaring her. . ." A man, with his face painted sloppily as a clown, said, turning all his attention on Anna, "Sorry, these boobs don't know what they're doing." He came far too close for comfort, merely inches away from her face, his voice turned into a low growl, "They just DON'T KNOW how to handle themselves around
such a beautiful woman..." He seized Anna by the back of her head, handling her with a rough hand and pulling on her hair. She stared up at him and without another word, kneed
him in the side as hard as she could. To her surprise, he began to laugh while holding his side, backing away from her a couple of steps.
"Hahahaah! Ohh, do it again!" He taunted her.
Anna took this opportunity to kick the large gun he was carrying out of his hand up into the air and into her own hands. But, this just made the strange man in the purple suit laugh even more, Anna slightly lowered her guard with confusion. His laughing ended abruptly and his face became completely serious, deadly even.

"Well, it looks like we've got a live one here..." He stooped low, pulling out a smaller gun and pulling the trigger. She flinched, but only to realize a little red sign with the word 'bang' written on it came out of the gun. Anna looked at it in total confusion, the man shrugged. He pointed it at her once more, casually pulling the trigger, the same sound coming out of the gun. Only this time, the sign fell out followed by a sharp pain in Anna's leg. She crippled to the ground, gritting her teeth and dropping the gun. "Tah-daah." He said, acting as if it were some sort of trick. He pointed between his thugs and Anna, instructing, "Pick her up, let's take the fun somewhere else."

One of the guards attempted to sling her over his shoulder. However, Anna was determined to get away. Although one of her legs was in great pain, she still had her other leg and both of her arms. She got up, grimacing from the pain. There had to be a way to escape, she thought quickly as the thug came towards her. The gun she'd taken but a few moments ago was still in hand. Putting it to good use, she defended herself, hitting him in the head with the butt of the gun. Anna turned and ran down the hallway to the darker side of the theater, heinous laughter echoed behind her. The bullet wound cried out to her to stop running, but if she did, her life would surely not be her own anymore. She could hear footsteps behind her, they were getting closer and closer by the second. Two rooms lay to her right and left, but she knew that neither would be safe to go into. At last, she spotted her savior, the prop lockers. On the outside they appeared very thin and impossible to put anything into, but if you opened them (and if you had the code to open them) they were extremely spacious. Anna clicked in the code and got inside the locker just in time. She began to hear voices.

"You," the clown instructed, "go into that room, and you go into that room. She couldn't have gone far, there's one hallway that way and nothing else." The two thugs grunted and went their separate ways. The clown grumbled to himself, "Ya gotta do it right, ya do it yourself..." He walked off in another direction.

Anna could hear them destroying the rooms they'd been instructed to search for her. She knew they'd eventually catch onto her being in one of the lockers. Anna had to think and she had to think fast. Just then, she remembered the ventilation system. It wasn't in use this time of year and it'd be a great place to make her escape. Anna opened the latch from inside the locker, it slowly - and quietly - opened. As quick as she could, Anna hopped up on top of the lockers and opened the large vent grate.

"Did you hear somethin'?" One of the thugs called across the hallway.
"Yeah, better go check it out." The other replied. Footsteps were coming quickly.

Anna strained, forcing herself up into the hole. Once inside, she crawled forward a few steps. Exhausted, her body lay limp, flat on the cold metal. She could hear the thugs talking beneath her.

"In here!" One of them said. Anna gathered they were probably looking inside the lockers she'd just barely escaped. She could hear them throwing all the items inside out of the lockers, they hit the walls and bounced a couple of times on the floor. Taking a deep breath in, she mustered up all the strength and energy she had and began to crawl through the vents. Anna followed her sense of direction and headed for the theater lobby. It was going to be a long crawl, but well worth it once she got there and out of harm's way. Anna peered through the occasional grate she'd cross over, hearing the occasional thug retracing his steps. Finally, she reached the lobby. With haste, Anna picked up the grate and sat it aside, she held onto the edges of the vent, lowering her body until she let go and landed on the ground. She had forgotten she was injured and fell to one knee. Limping quickly towards the front door, she could see the cop cars outside. Anna sighed, pushing on the lever, she was but a moment away from the outside. Until she found, the door would not open. A single-handed applause could be heard behind her.

"Ah-ha ha ha haAh." The man with the sloppy clown makeup clapped, "What a performance..." He walked over to her, gesturing, "To think, someone of your "status" could deliver such a
spectacular show!" He became uncomfortably close, "Ohh, I do love the games you play, Annaah Bananahh..."

She knew she could no longer hide from this man, this thing that had somehow singled her out and hunted her down. With fear and nervousness filling her heart she asked the only thing that she could think to ask, "What do you want from me?"

His laugh pierced the tension in the air, "What-?! HAhaha! What do I want from you?!" His laughing stopped as he grabbed her wrist, "Everything, kid."
"Let the girl go, Joker!" A masked, hooded figure called over. Anna recognized him instantly, it was Batman, the one who kept Gotham safe, the one who she knew was going to save her in this very moment. As for the man she did not recognize, the one who claimed to want everything from her, he was now identified. She was unsure why she didn't recognize him sooner, he was all over the news and was supposedly the one who killed her Aunt Rachel. The Joker was completely famous and Anna felt completely clueless.
"Hahahaha!" The Joker laughed, "So the Bats came out to play?"

"Let her go, you don't want me to end things here, do you?" Batman retorted.
"End things?! BAH Hahahahah!" The Joker bantered, "You can't just... end things, Batsy... but-"
Anna jerked her wrist out of The Joker's grasp. This seemed to make him remember he'd grabbed her in the first place. He looked back at her with a sick satisfaction in his half-lidded eyes, looking down at her, he finished his thought, "But I can."

The Joker pulled out a gun, bashing Anna in the head with it. She heard laughter, she saw smoke. Everything became very hazy. Soon, everything went black.

END CHAPTER THREE