A/N: Work and writers block have been kicking my tail…and you're going to notice this chapter is much shorter than my previous ones. I've discovered that by breaking them into chunks makes writing them much easier.

Draining the Basins

We reached the end of the tunnel. There was a sheer drop into the Gotham Bay. No wonder its name is Dead Man's Point. "So how are we going to get out of here?"

"We fly." Batman unhooked the wire from his utility belt again. He wrapped it around me and we began to glide to the outlying rocks. I clung to him, looking straight up. While I knew Batman would keep me from falling. But I was still relieved when we finally made it back to Arkham North. Using the catacombs, we finally reached the pump house.

"Batman, the island has jumped in seismic activity." Oracle shouted as another rumble overtook the ground.

"Yeah, tell us something we don't know." I grumbled as Batman freed me.

"How about the plants are spreading to the mainland and are threatening to break the city to kingdom come?" Oracle retorted.

"…that I didn't know. Think you have enough antidote for Ivy?" I asked Batman.

"Based on the tests I ran in the Batcave, then yes, we've got enough." Batman said. "But we've got more trouble." He pointed to the canal below. A bunch of goons were carrying drums, I could see green stuff in it. More T.I.T.A.N. "What is he up to now?"

I heard Oracle typing something. "Those pump houses pump all the rainwater and treated sewage on the island to a basin. Once it's full, the basin itself drains into the Gotham Bay. Normally, it's harmless…."

"…but Joker's dumping T.I.T.A.N into the basin. We've got to stop him." Batman decided.

"There's three pumps that control all the water activity on the island. All of them are located below you two. And they're heavily guarded."

"No surprise there." I crouched with Batman inside a vent "So what's the plan?"

"I'll take them out. You disable the pumps. Stay here until I announce it's clear." Batman said, firing his grapple gun, flying off into the darkness.

Batman got to work just as he had been doing all night long. Hide in the shadows. Swoop down. Take them out. Run and hide. Rinse and repeat, as Marjorie would say. For once, Marjorie did as he ordered and stayed put, probably realizing the real danger going on in the room.

After a few minutes, it was all over. All the guards were down and out. "Marjorie, it's clear." Batman said into his comm link.

"Done deal. You take care of the next room?" She responded as she crawled out of the vent.

The cyrptosequencer…"Slide your key card in here. This should help you deal with the control panels." He tossed the device at her. She caught it effortlessly before he disappeared into the shadows.

I went over to the control panel. It was locked. Ok, hope this new gadget is easy to use. I slid the keycards through the side and flipped out the control stick. It was a frequency reader…shouldn't be too hard to figure out. I rotated the sticks around until the frequency had been reached. It hummed a high pitched noise before the panel shattered, sending sparks everywhere. I watched as the pump stopped.

"That's one down." I said into the earpiece.

"Perfect, the pump is stopping now." Oracle said. "The second pump is in the next room. Be careful."

"Always am, remember?" I winked, even though she couldn't see me. Looking up, I saw a vent cover dangling just off a vent. No doubt that's how he got out. I took out the grapple gun and fired my way up, ready for the jump this time. Crawling through the vent, I reached the end. Again, I was really high off the ground. Batman took down the last thug as I got there. "Man, you really don't give them a break, do you?" I asked.

I could just imagine Batman fighting the urge to roll his eyes. "There's one more room. Think you've got this one?"

"You know I do." I chuckled as I aimed the grabble gun out and flew to a gargoyle. It began to crumble when I reached it."Whoa!" I yelped as I got my balance. Heart pumping and breath racing, I let go of the button and allowed myself to fall. Roll, Marjorie! I remembered to roll a somersault so the force of the fall would go out instead of breaking my bones.

This time, the control panel was flanked by two green canisters, spray painted with purple Joker faces. Oh joy, he's rigged it. No problem. I just had to disarm it three times. One went off, a light blinked. Then two. On the final one, the panel exploded. But the canisters hadn't activated.

"That's two." I said into the comm link as the pump shut down.

"Good." Batman's voice rang in my earpiece. "I'm done here."

"On my way now." I found the vent he had slunk through. He was waiting for me in the cleared room. "Have any fun?" I quipped, smiling.

"Just disable the control panel." Batman grumbled.

Batman kept his eyes open as Marjorie finally disabled the final pump. It was quiet. Too quiet…

"Ok, done." Marjorie said, giving Batman back the cyrptosequencer. The pump stopped. They left, ending up in the elevator room. Something was wrong. He could just feel it.

"Don't count on an easy victory Bats!" Joker's voice burst through the P.A. The doors closed behind them. "You two have company coming! Deal with these odds!"

"Ready for another round?" Marjorie asked, loading her pistols.

"You know it." Batman prepared his fists as the first elevator door opened.

A group of thugs ran out. Of course Batman became a flying furry of kicks and punches. As for me, I punched, kicked and fired my guns through. We took them out within moments.

I barely had time to reload before the second elevator doors opened. Again, another group of thugs ran through. This is a cakewalk. I thought as we punched and kicked them back. But don't get too cocky, I reminded myself as I disarmed a thug yielding a pipe.

They didn't take too long either. "Ok Joker, show your hand! I know you're up to something!" I shouted.

"Party pooper Margie…" I could imagine Joker pouting. "Just for that…I've got a couple of big surprises for you and Batsy!" The third elevator door shattered open. Out came the TITAN thugs. "Which one you want?" I asked as I dodged a charge.

"Right, you get left!" Batman yelled as he tossed a couple of Batarangs.

"Come on ugly! Let's dance!" I taunted as I fired at the hulking thing running at me. The bullets didn't stop him. If anything, it made him angrier. I barely managed to dodge out of the way. He slammed into the wall, stunning him momentarily. That was all the time I needed to pick up a pipe and start thrashing the tar out of him. After a couple of minutes, he had gotten up. Time to get out of the way…I ran for it, picking up a couple of discarded Batarangs while I was at it.

The thug screamed and charged. By that time, I had figured out my pattern. I threw Batarangs at its face as it charged at me. Blinded, it ran right into the wall. That's when I would thrash it. When it began backing away from the wall, I knew to get out of the way.

Batman finished with his thug before I did. Mine had slowed down. Batman jumped in and knocked him out effortlessly. By then I was dripping with sweat, my heart pounding. "Hey! That one had my name on it!" I pouted as I leaned against the wall.

"You're welcome." Batman groaned as he readjusted his gauntlet. "Know another way out of here?"

Looking around, I found a ladder bolted into the wall. "Yeah, up here." I pointed to the ladder. "It leads to the pump house outside of Intensive."

"Let's go." Batman jumped up the ladder, taking the rungs three at a time. I wasn't as fast so it took me longer. Batman was waiting for me, holding out his hand. I took it and he pulled me into the shed.

"Batman…?" I panted as he opened the door. "Thank you, for back there."

"You're welcome." He said, heading outside. I followed. What we came upon was a landscape that had been changed. Giant vines had erupted out of the ground, snaking across the island. Giant spores, very similar to the ones that attacked Gotham last year, glowed. "This looks like something out of Little Shop of Horrors."

"Come on, we've got to get Ivy." Batman said as we hurried to Arkham East.

A/N: Sounds like we've got the big fight scene coming up next…I like the ideas presented for the sequel (which will definitely be set during Arkham City) so far. But what else would you like to see? Come on, some ideas? Please?

I'm surprised nobody's guessed who Sam was in the last chapter…hint, he's going to play a big role in the sequel.