I would like to thank Zarathustra1030, RebelByrdie and D.J. Scales for their kind words. It's much appreciated, as always.
Batman & Benson 5
Chapter Ten
Alex didn't even know she had fallen asleep until she woke up with a start. For a spilt second she wondered why she couldn't move--until she remembered that she was presently a captive of Cadmus, and thanks to Judson--that major scuzz-bucket--they had Alex all trussed up as if she were a dangerous serial killer.
The guards who rode in the back with her were gone, and when she could no longer feel any vibrations through the floor with her bare feet, Alex realized that the truck she rode in wasn't moving.
'We've stopped,' she anxiously realized. 'But does this mean that we're--'
She flinched when the back door opened suddenly, and one of the guards entered with a knife. Alex relaxed somewhat when the guard used the knife to cut the plastic tie that bound her ankles together.
"Rise and shine," he said, as he pulled Alex to her feet and escorted her out of the truck.
Earlier, Agent Clemmons had told Alex that she would know she was at the Cadmus meta prison once she saw it--and now, Alex knew exactly what she meant. The vast, gleaming space she found herself in was both an impressive, as well as imposing, sight to behold. Alex was one of several people who were being offloaded by guards from a row of trucks that were all parked in this huge receiving area. There was a petite Latina woman who was being dragged off the truck that was parked next to Alex's.
Similarly clad in the same gray tank top and pants that Alex wore, the poor woman looked as if she were heavily drugged as the guards quickly strapped her down to a gurney. As smiling Cadmus agents stood watching, another agent leaned over the helpless woman and said, "You're not so tough now, are you?"
Alex's uneasiness was only intensified when a leering Agent Judson walked up to her. "Hello, Ms. Cabot," he said with a smirk, as he started walking alongside Alex and her guards. "Enjoy your ride over here?"
Various retorts formed in Alex's mind--all of them nasty, and filled with curses that would make a sailor blush--but thanks to her gag, they remained unspoken.
"What? No snappy reply?" Judson remarked. "Looks like you can't sweet talk your way out of this one, huh?"
Agent Clemmons was also there, walking alongside Judson with a pained expression on her face. Alex wondered if anything she had said had gotten through to the woman. Not that it really mattered, now.
Alex was escorted to a central processing center, which was a large, office area that was filled with paper pushers. Judson hauled Alex over to a window and stated her name to the clerk. The man looked it up on his computer, then did a double take at the screen. "She's been tagged," he informed Judson. "You need to take her directly over to administration, to interrogation room A-1."
'Interrogation room?' Alex thought worriedly, as the guards hauled her down a corridor filled with offices.
A group of office workers passed her by, all laughing at a joke, and they hardly gave a second look to the terrified bound and gagged woman who was being manhandled by the guards down the hall.
When they got to the interrogation room, Alex saw that it was nothing more than a windowless, empty room with a hardback metal chair that was bolted to the floor that faced a desk with a chair. Alex's heart started pumping faster as she was made to sit in the chair, and then the guards tied her ankles separately to the legs with plastic ties--along with her cuffed wrists, which were secured to the back of the chair. She was now helplessly bound to the chair.
The guards left the room, and an increasingly nervous Alex found herself alone with Judson and Clemmons--the latter gazed at her with open concern. Alex tried to keep up her brave face, but it was very hard, especially as she wondered just how they would interrogate her. She frantically scanned the desk, and was relieved to see it contained no torture instruments. But that really didn't mean anything.
She also wondered if the homing beacon that Olivia gave her was still working--and even if it was, how long would it take for Batman to get here? She doubted that he would get here in time to save her. But Alex realized that if Cadmus had wanted to kill her outright, they would have done so by now. But that thought didn't give her much hope, especially when it looked likely that they were about to torture her right now.
All of these nerve-wracking thoughts, along with her dire situation, had taken a toll on Alex, who began to hyperventilate. She tried to take in great sucking gasps of air through her nose, but it didn't feel like it was enough--not with her mouth gagged. Alex felt as if she were about to die of suffocation.
When she stared pleadingly at Clemmons, the woman immediately came over and began to undo the gag that covered Alex's mouth.
"What are you doing?!" Judson asked sharply. "Leave her gag on!"
"She sounds like she's suffocating, sir," Clemmons said, her voice tinged with anger.
"I said leave her gag on, Agent Clemmons!"
"But, sir--!"
"Leave the gag on!"
"We didn't bring Ms. Cabot all the way out here just so she could die on us," another male voice abruptly called out. "So go ahead, Agent Clemmons, please remove her gag."
Clemmons quickly removed the gag, and Alex gratefully took in a great, heaping lungful of air. Her panic attack immediately dropped a notch.
"Thank you, Agent," the second man said. He stood in the shadows, far behind the desk. "Now you and Agent Judson can leave us."
Clemmons just gave Alex a sorrowful look before she turned and left. Ironically, when Olivia passed Alex the homing device by kissing her, it was Clemmons who had expressed her disgust at their passionate kiss. And now it was very clear that the same woman felt a great deal of pity for Alex.
"Thank you," Alex weakly called after her. Her voice was hoarse; her mouth was bone-dry from the gag.
Judson looked as if he wanted to stay, yet thought better of it and left with Clemmons.
"You had no idea how much I wanted to meet you," the man said, as he placed what looked like a suitcase on the desk. He was still in shadow; Alex could only make out the outline of his body. "When I first heard about the underground meta railroad in Gotham City, I knew it had a leader, but when I found out that it was a woman, I was impressed. And when I recently found out it was you, Ms. Cabot…well, I was simply awestruck. I'm big enough to admit that you've done an outstanding job at running circles around my people."
A light came on in the ceiling over the desk, and Alex was stunned to see that the man wore a general's uniform. He walked around the desk and leaned up against the front of it. "I'm General Nathaniel Hardcastle, the commander of this facility, as well as of Cadmus itself," he said amiably. "And it pleases me greatly to bid you welcome, Alexandra, to your new home."
Although she was no longer gagged, Alex was still so overwhelmed by this situation that all she could do was just stare back at him in numb shock.
B&B
Diana sat on the ground by the edge of the pond, staring thoughtfully at her reflection in the water. The dark-haired woman who stared back was clad in nothing more than a basic cloth wrap with a loincloth. It was a rudimentary outfit that was worn here on Paradise Island during exercise sessions. Diana had worn it while she sparred with Euboea earlier today in the sporting arena. At least it was supposed to have been an exercise sparring match--unfortunately, it almost turned out to be a disaster.
Thinking back on the incident, Diana realized that her mind just wasn't focused on the match. All day today she had been thinking about what had occurred back in Gotham City, when Diana had attacked Inspector Benson in her office, and as the realization dawn on her that she had been used--had actually been manipulated into her assault by unseen malevolent forces--Diana's anger had only grown.
And so by the time she faced Euboea in what was supposed to have been a friendly match, Diana was so enraged that she inadvertently took it out on her friend and had nearly killed her.
Before she knew it, Diana had struck the sparring pole from Euboea's hands, knocked the woman to the ground, and was just about to drive her own pole straight down through her opponent's heart until she was suddenly halted in her tracks.
"DIANA!"
Diana, startled out of her anger, stepped back and glanced down in horror at what she had almost done. Euboea stared up at her in sheer shock and fear--and that was an expression that Diana had never wanted to see in her friend's face. The entire arena grew quiet as all of the women ceased their sessions to stare in puzzlement at the Princess.
"Euboea, I am so sorry," she whispered, ashamed. She quickly helped her friend up to her feet.
"It is all right," Euboea said, as she made a casual adjustment of her loincloth. "You've taught me a valuable lesson, Diana: never let my guard down. Shall we start again?"
Yet Diana no longer had the heart for it. When she glanced in the direction of the firm voice that called her name, Diana saw her mother, Hippolyta, had stood up from her throne in the private viewing box. She glared at her daughter with a ferocious anger.
"This is supposed to be only exercise," Hippolyta roared at her. "What did you think you were doing?!"
Diana just shook her head in shame and ran from the arena. She kept running until she arrived at this meadow, where she sat down by the pond and remained there for the longest time. But she now realized that her problems could not be solved by running away, which was exactly what she had done after the incident in Gotham City. The answer was clear.
Diana would have to go back.
Leaving the pond, she went back to her private quarters, where she removed her scant exercise clothes and got dressed--but not in a toga, which was the standard outfit that was worn by he female inhabitants on Paradise Island. Instead, Diana got dressed in another outfit, one that she had not worn in a long while. And when Diana peered at her reflection in the full-length mirror once she was finished dressing, Wonder Woman glared back at her.
She then strode into her mother's throne room, where she found Hippolyta speaking with Euboea, who still wore her exercise outfit. Both women glanced over at Diana with surprise.
"My daughter," Hippolyta said, as she gazed at the Wonder Woman outfit that Diana wore. "You are leaving us?"
"I have to go back, mother," Diana said calmly. "I have to make things right back in the world of men."
After a thoughtful moment, Hippolyta nodded. "I understand, my daughter. You have been deeply troubled ever since you returned. You go, and may the gods grant you a safe journey."
After Diana embraced her mother, she turned to Euboea, who said, "Good hunting, Diana, and if what I saw during our match was any indication, then may the gods have mercy on your prey."
As she made preparations to leave for the world of men, Wonder Woman thought about what Euboea said. She had meant it in jest, but if Wonder Woman did find those who were responsible for her disgrace, then they would indeed need all the mercy the gods could bestow on them.
Because Wonder Woman planned on not showing them any mercy whatsoever.
B&B
Roslyn Clemmons could not get Alexandra Cabot out of her mind.
As she rode back to the Gotham City transfer station with Judson and the others in the back of the van, the young Cadmus agent could not shake the haunting image of Alexandra's wide, pleading eyes as she choked under her gag.
And Kyle Judson, Clemmons' partner and senior agent of their team, had just wanted to let her die.
Roslyn had been responsible for bringing in a great number of metas, and she had been very proud of that fact, along with the battle that she helped fight…until now. When they brought in Alexandra, the whole game had changed. For one thing, Cabot wasn't a meta, but a regular human being. Yet the more Roslyn thought on it, the more she realized that perhaps all of the people whom she had helped bring in were just human beings, after all. Sure, they were different from normal people--but, in the end, they were still just people, weren't they? And if they now locked up non-metas like Cabot without a chance to defend herself in a trial, then how far along were they from locking up other regular people--people without powers like Roslyn as well? Where would it end?
When she glanced over at Judson, Roslyn saw that he was glowering angrily at her. He had been glaring at her like this on the entire ride back.
'Well, let him glower,' she thought sullenly. This day had also provided Roslyn with a new look at her boss, as well. Kyle Judson was nothing more than a sadistic scumbag who enjoyed his work way too much.
When their truck finally pulled into the transfer station, Roslyn was the first to get out. She realized with a frown that the place was empty. "Hello," Roslyn called, her voice echoing off the walls. "Anybody here?"
The sight of a lone duffle bag on the platform gave her pause. The clothing that spilled out of it belonged to Alexandra Cabot, and Roslyn was overcome with emotion at the remnants of a life that had been so rudely interrupted. Would Alexandra ever wear these clothes again? Would she even survive the night? And the worst part of it was that no matter what terrible things Alexandra went through right now, it was Roslyn who helped put her there.
'That's it,' Roslyn thought, as she wiped a tear from her eye. 'I've had it.'
She'd go through the motions until her shift was over, and then Roslyn would take some private time to seriously reconsider her life. She had lost the stomach for this job, and wanted out, right now.
"Hey!" Roslyn cried, when one of her fellow Cadmus agents roughly grabbed her from behind. Another pulled her gun from its holster and handed it to Judson, who glared at her with hatred. "Judson, what are you doing?"
"You're shedding tears for these animals, now?" Judson said with a disgusted look. "What'll be the next step for you, Clemmons? Humping them?"
"What are you doing?" Roslyn asked. The icy fingers of fear clamped over her heart as her wrists were pulled behind her and cuffed together. "Let me go, Judson!"
"I've always wondered about your commitment to the Cadmus Project, Clemmons," Judson said, as he imperiously strode back and forth in front of her. "But when you deliberately disobeyed my orders by removing Cabot's gag--"
"She was choking to death!" Roslyn cried. "You were killing her!"
"You obey my orders above all else!" Judson roared back at her. "We have a chain of command, here. And if you disobey me in even the slightest way, do you know what happens, Clemmons?! Do you know what will happen to you, now?! You have any idea what I'm going to have done to you?"
"She's not the one you should be concerned about," a chilling, baleful voice called out from the darkness that surrounded them. "I'd worry about myself right now, if I were you…."
Judson's eyes grew wide as he stared anxiously around him. "Who the hell said that?! Who the hell is--?"
And before Judson even finished, something big and dark swept out of the shadows and slammed into him, knocking him off of his feet. Before Roslyn could even react to this, the men who held her were also knocked down by two more shadowy figures--while a fourth Cadmus man, who stood guard by the truck, was attacked by another mysterious figure.
Roslyn stared in horror as a struggling Judson was being hauled up from the ground by his neck by a dark, menacing figure--a terrifying creature of renown whom Roslyn had secretly hoped she would never meet, not even in her darkest nightmares.
It was the Batman.
When a frantic Judson made an attempt to reach for his gun, the Batman effortlessly slugged him into unconsciousness.
Roslyn flinched when the Dark Knight glared over at her. And as she stood helplessly handcuffed before this unearthly being, Roslyn realized that he would be coming after her, now. He would be dragging her straight down to the very same hell where monsters like her belonged.
"I'M SORRY!" Roslyn screamed in a hysterical panic, as she turned away and ran wildly for her life. "I'M SORRY!"
Roslyn let out a cry of terror when one of the Batman's hellish minions had grabbed her and tackled her to the floor. She tried to struggle, fully expecting the floor to crack open and swallow her into the depths of hell, until the thing that grabbed Roslyn abruptly pulled her into a hug and--in a kind, human-sounding voice--said, "It's ok, sweetie. Shh! Shh! It's ok; you're safe, now. You're safe. Easy, just take it easy."
The woman who held her spoke in such a calm, soothing tone that the panic level that Roslyn felt immediately dropped. She oddly felt safe in the arms of this stranger.
"Is she all right?" a male voice asked.
"What do you think?" the woman who tightly held Roslyn against her shoulder sarcastically replied. "God only knows what they were going to do to her just now. She was already scared out of her mind even before you showed up with your usual fright show introduction. Could somebody get these cuffs off of her?"
"Robin," the man ordered, "get them off of her."
Roslyn had finally calmed down to the point where she could see that there were a group of people who surrounded her. One of them was the Batman--who still looked very intimidating, yet didn't appear to be the demon from hell whom Roslyn had initially envisioned. The other people were a young woman in a similar-looking suit as Batman's; Supergirl, and a large, beefy man with muttonchops. Batman's sidekick Robin, a handsome young man in a more colorful outfit, had bent down and quickly unlocked the cuffs from her wrists.
"There, see?" the woman who held her said. Roslyn recognized her as Olivia Benson. She was clad in an all-black outfit. "Just like I said, you're safe, now."
"Great idea you had in attacking this place, Bats," the man with the muttonchops said gruffly. He gestured at the truck that Roslyn had just arrived in. "Now we've got a Trojan Horse that we can use to just drive right through the front gates. But it's still a helluva long drive we've got ahead of us."
"Supergirl can help with that," Batman told him. "She can fly us out there, greatly cutting down the travel time, and dropping the truck off just far enough away from the base so it won't be seen. Then we'll just drive it up to the gate."
As Benson helped her up to her feet, Roslyn grew excited as she finally realized what was happening. The Batman was planning nothing less than an all out assault on Cadmus. "You'll need an access code," Roslyn blurted out. "The guards at the main gate requires the driver to give one before they can enter. It changes every couple of days."
When she gave them the full six digit code, Benson gave her a brilliant smile. "Thanks very much." Then her smile faded slightly. "I overheard you speaking to Judson over there about Alex Cabot?"
Roslyn remembered the desperate, passionate kiss that Benson had given to Alexandra, just before she and the others had pried them apart, and the shame she felt had made her feel like crying again. "I'm so sorry about that," she told Benson. "When I last saw her, Ms. Cabot was all right. She was with the General."
"What general?" Batman asked sharply.
"General Hardcastle," Roslyn replied. "She was with him in interrogation room A-1, on the administrative level of the prison"
"She's being interrogated?!" Benson said with a fearful look. "Oh, God, Batman, we'd better--"
"We're already moving, Sis," he told her. "Robin, Batgirl, Supergirl: cuff this bunch up--we'll leave them for Gordon and his people to pick up."
When Batgirl made a motion to move towards Roslyn, as if to take her along with the other prisoners, Benson stopped her. "You can't chain her up with her attackers, Batman," she said.
"I have no intention to," the Dark Knight replied. He stared meaningfully at Roslyn, and she felt like nothing more than a mere microbe under his deep, penetrating gaze. "We're letting her go--after she hands over her cell phone."
"You got it," Roslyn replied, as she quickly gave Benson her cell. "Thank you."
"No, thank you," Batman told her. "The information you gave us is invaluable."
"Assuming it's on the level," the man with the muttonchops muttered. He eyed Roslyn suspiciously. "And assuming she doesn't double back to here and free her friends later."
"Are you kidding me?" Benson angrily said to him. "Did you see what they were doing to her just before we stopped them?"
"She won't betray us," Batman said, as he continued to gaze steadily at Roslyn. "Because, if she did--"
"No, I won't," Roslyn quickly said, not wanting him to finish his threat. "I'm out of Cadmus as of right now. I quit. I swear."
"Then go," Batman told her. "Start walking, and don't look back."
And so she did. Roslyn walked back to Gotham City for over an hour before she managed to hitch a ride with a trucker. He was even nice enough to deposit her right in her own neighborhood, just a block down from her building.
When she entered her apartment, the first thing she did was turn on her TV set. She figured there would be news of the Batman's assault on the Cadmus prison by now. However, instead of that, Roslyn was surprised to see the image of the Joker was on her TV screen.
"Your tax dollars at work, my friends," the Clown Prince of Crime spoke into the camera, which he held in his hands like a lover.
'Damn it,' Roslyn thought, as she watched the Joker speak on at great length. If Batman did assault the base during the time it took her to get home, then that news might have been overshadowed by the return of the Joker.
Leaving the TV on, Roslyn decided to take a shower. But while she washed, Roslyn kept scrubbing and scrubbing until her skin was raw. She let out a frustrated sob and collapsed to the floor of her shower stall. She pulled her legs up to her chest and sat under the water as she continued to cry bitterly.
Because, no matter how hard she had washed, Roslyn Clemmons just didn't feel clean.
B&B
"I've told you once, and I'll tell you again," Alex said calmly, "I don't know what you're talking about."
Yet Hardcastle looked as if he didn't believe her. He shook his head as he walked over and leaned against the front of the desk in the interrogation room. "You can stop playing the brave resistance fighter, Ms. Cabot, because I can assure you that that former life is now over for you. You are a prisoner of Cadmus, now--and as such, we now own you, body and soul. All you can hope for now is that your cooperation will assure better treatment."
Now it was Alex's turn to shake her head. "What the hell happened to due process? You Cadmus people always say you're fighting for this country, but you're doing so by throwing everything that's good about it right out the window."
Hardcastle strode over to her and belted Alex across the face with the back of his hand. Had it not been for her bonds, the blow would have knocked Alex right out of her seat. Despite the fact that the right side of her face stung badly, and she tasted blood, Alex still glared up at him defiantly.
"That was just a small example of how badly things can go for you here, if you don't cooperate," Hardcastle warned her. "Now, once again--and you'd better give a proper answer to my question--who else was working with you in the Gotham City Meta Underground?"
Alex was about to tell him just where he could stuff his 'proper answer' when a sergeant abruptly barged into the room.
"I thought I asked for no interruptions," Hardcastle said angrily.
"My apologies, sir, but the White House is on the line," the Sergeant said, "and they wish to speak to you, sir, right now."
Hardcastle frowned, as if this was very unusual. "Did they give a reason?" he asked.
The Sergeant shook his head. "No, sir. But my guess would be that it's about the Joker."
Despite the fact that she was securely bound to a chair, in the middle of being interrogated, Alex was still shocked to hear this news. "The Joker?!" she exclaimed. "He's back?"
Even Hardcastle was clearly taken aback. "I was under the impression that he was dead."
"No sir, he's very much alive, and has released a video to the media," the Sergeant reported. "All the cable news channels have been running it nonstop for the last hour, now. And, um, sir…the Joker mentions us in the video. He talks about the Cadmus Project at length. It's all on television."
Hardcastle's eyes momentarily flared wide in fear, then he started walking briskly out the door. "Ms. Cabot, if you'll excuse me…."
"Oh, sure," Alex said, as she barked out boisterous laughter.
That made Hardcastle pause by the doorway and glare back at her. "Is something funny, Ms. Cabot?"
"You're dealing with the Joker!" Alex told him, in-between giggles. "Better you than me, Hardcastle!"
Hardcastle just stared angrily at her for a second, before he left her alone in the room. Alex's laughter continued to echo in the interrogation chamber.
B&B
"You know, I really hate waiting," Lana muttered. "I almost wish I was with them."
"No, you don't," Rachel told her. They both sat in front of the Batcomputer with Sam and Kitty. And when she recalled the memory of her and Bruce's abduction by Two-Face, Rachel shook her head. "Trust me. When Bruce goes out as Batman, things can get very crazy. I don't know how he deals with it."
"How do you deal with it?" Sam asked her. "With Bruce going out like this?"
Rachel smiled at her, pleased to see Sam was looking so much better than when Logan first brought her in. "I guess it's sort of like being a police officer's wife," Rachel replied with a shrug. "It's something that Alex certainly understands; what with all the running around that Liv does in her job. You just understand, being with somebody who has a high-risk job, that it's a part of their life."
"All I know is that I wish I was with them," Sam said. "I mean, Batman, Robin, Batgirl, Wolverine, and Supergirl all working together like this? I'd give anything to see them in action against that base. Hell, I almost pity the Cadmus guys they'll be taking on."
"Don't forget Olivia," Alfred said, as he strode past them. "She's quite capable in a fight."
"Don't you mean Huntress?" Rachel said with a smile. "Did you hear that Olivia's finally agreed to be called that, just for this mission?"
"Olivia has only agreed very grudgingly," Alfred said with a grin.
"Are we witnessing the birth of a new superhero, here?" Lana jokingly asked.
"Oh, don't say that to Liv!" Rachel said, as she roared with laughter. Then her mood grew somber as she wondered how they were all doing. "I just hope they're all ok…."
"That fact that Master Bruce, nor any other members of the team, haven't called by now is a good sign," Alfred assured her.
"So as long as we have total silence from them, everything's ok," Lana muttered, as she rested her arm on the Batcomputer's console. "It's still nerve-wracking."
Their conversation was interrupted when they all saw Chloe absently wandering around the Batcave, intently searching for something.
"Chloe," Lana called, "what's wrong?"
"Anybody see my shoes?" Chloe asked, looking completely at sea. "I can't find them anywhere!"
When Kitty burst into riotous laughter, Rachel grinned at the girl. "Uh-oh, looks like we have a shoe bandit in our midst!"
The mirthful moment was shattered when the Batcomputer suddenly began emitting a high-pitched alert sound, with the words 'Red Flag' flashing wildly on the screen.
"Oh, God," Lana anxiously said, as she quickly jerked her arm away from the console. "I'm sorry! What did I do?!"
"It wasn't you, my dear," Alfred assured her, as he consulted the computer. "The Batcomputer is designed to constantly search all aspects of the media for special phrases revelant to the Batman. It's found one."
He punched a button, and an icy chill shot up Rachel's spine when she saw the phrase "The Joker" appear before them on the massive screen. Alfred worked the keyboard and brought up a news website that had a video from The Joker on display. When he played the video, it showed the Clown Prince of Crime standing in a deserted room, speaking into a camcorder, which he held in his hands. "Greetings, kids," he said with a slight smile. "In case you haven't heard, I'm back. And look what I've got to show you."
The video cut to reveal the camera was now obviously mounted on a tripod of some sort. Rachel was surprised to find herself looking at Gotham City Police Inspector Leslie Curnow, who stood in a dimly lit room, speaking to the Joker, who had just handed her a package. Curnow gazed eagerly at the sealed file. "Is this…?" she started to say.
"Yes, it's all the information--and evidence--you need to bring down Gordon, Dawes, and Benson," the Joker told her. "Just as I promised you."
"What about the mayor?" Curnow asked. "Will anything in here affect him, too?"
"Think of it as being a house of cards, my dear," the Joker told her. "You bring down Gordon and the others, and the mayor will fall as well."
Curnow nodded as she tucked the folder under her arm. She glanced over at Joker and said, "Thank you."
The scene changed back to a close up of the Joker's face. "Your tax dollars at work, my friends," he said with a snide smile. "Inspector Curnow is really an agent of the Cadmus Project--you know, that big, scary black ops organization; the existence of which your morally up-right elected public servants keep denying? Oh, trust me, friends, they're all too real. When Curnow failed to get the Batman herself, the Cadmus Project then hired me as sort of a free-lance consultant to help them take down the Batman. And look how well that's worked out! Now, dear viewer, I ask you: do I look like the sort of guy whom you'd want to get into business with? No, I didn't think so…."
He burst into his trademark laughter at that point, a hyena-like sound that chilled Rachel's blood. Then the Joker brought the camera closer to his deathly-white face and added, "This is what happens, my dear viewer, when you let the government manipulate you, and lead you around like the pack of dull-witted sheep that you truly are. In their constant quest for ever more power, they've convinced you that you would be more safer if you just let the Cadmus Project run amuck and take all of the truly interesting people off the streets. And you, the cow-eyed, slack-jawed couch potato that you are, were completely convinced that you were made safe from terror."
The Joker briefly looked away with a mock-thoughtful expression on his face. "Hm, I don't think so, dear viewer. It looks like you were once again suckered by the powers that be, and your stupidity will now cost you. You see, I've decided it's time to teach you a lesson. I'm about to show the dullards of Gotham City what true terror really looks like. And when I'm done with this city, you will once more know what it's like to fear the dark. At least, those of you good citizens who are still left alive come morning…."
The tape ended on The Joker laughing hysterically, and Rachel felt a deep-seated terror she had not known since she was a little girl. She stared, dazed, at Alfred and the others, and they could only gaze back at her with the same shocked expressions.
It was Kitty who innocently broke the silence.
"I don't understand," the girl anxiously said. "What's the Joker gonna do?"
B&B
Harley Quinn sat in the corner of the padded room with her arms contained within a straight jacket, and her bare legs casually crossed at the ankles. Nurse Drauslin had Harley confined to the small, padded room for what she called a "time out session" after Harley was caught trying to set Harriet Glubman's hair on fire. Harley didn't know what the big deal was, especially since Glubman had it coming--she was such a big whiner, after all. Maybe next time, Harley will just try and kill the annoying bitch outright. Hell, Nurse Drauslin might want to start watching her back, because Harley was feeling just puckish enough to even try and take her out, too.
Harley was startled out of her happy thoughts of murder by a loud scream that came from just outside of her padded cell. Then it was followed by another scream, and then another, long, shrill cry of terror.
"HEY, KEEP IT DOWN OUT THERE!" Harley angrily shouted. "SOME OF US ARE TRYING TO LOSE OUR MINDS IN PEACE AND QUIET, HERE!"
But as the racket outside only got louder, and more intense, Harley pushed her back up against the wall until she could get her feet underneath her to stand up. Once she was standing, she walked over to the door, which had a small slit of a window. Harley was amazed at what she saw.
People--Arkham Asylum staff members--were running frantically around, being chased by patients! And judging from the bright, flicking glow she saw on the walls, it even looked like the place was on fire!
"Hey, c'mon, let me in on the fun, huh?" Harley whined, as she angrily kicked the door. But she had momentarily forgotten that she was barefoot, and stubbed her toe. "Ow…."
Harley then backed away in alarm when the door to her padded cell suddenly began to unlock. She realized, with growing terror, that a full-scale riot was taking place at Arkham Asylum--and here she was, completely helpless in a straightjacket. "Um, you know what, guys? That's ok, I think I'll just sit this one out right here, ok?"
Her fear dissolved when the door was flung open, and The Joker strode into the cell. "Hello, my dear Harley. Miss me?"
"JOKER!" Harley screamed with joy. She wanted nothing more than to give her long-lost lover a great big hug--but thanks to the straightjacket, she had to settle for excitedly rubbing herself against his body. He was exactly as she had remembered him, tall, gaunt, pale and clad in a purple suit. What a hunk!
The Joker held her out at arm's length and said, "I must say, Harley, you're quite a fetching sight in a straightjacket!"
"Aw, Mister J," Harley said as her cheeks blushed. "You sure know how to flatter a girl! What's going on?"
"Come see for yourself, my dear," The Joker said, as he led her out into the corridor.
Harley was taken aback at the sight of pure bedlam that surrounded her. A fire blazed in what used to be the nurse's station, as several patients, all armed with clubs, chased down one of the male orderlies. Judging from the whumping sounds she heard from around the corner, they got him.
"Ah, chaos," the Joker said with a smile. "Ain't it wonderful? Come with me, my dear."
The Joker led Harley down to a side entrance of Arkham Asylum, where she saw several dozen newly freed patients boarding a large number in the fleet of the asylum's buses. "Those are my boys driving," The Joker proudly told her. "They'll be taking these rambunctious kids straight to the heart of downtown Gotham City for the biggest blow out that town has ever seen!"
"Blow out!" a short, bug-eyed man repeated with a mad giggle. Harley thought he looked somewhat like a crazed Peter Lorre. He kept giggling non-stop. "Blow out! Blow out!"
"Harley, I'd like to introduce you to Eddie," The Joker said. "Eddie here has really proven himself tonight. Eddie, why don't you get take Harley's straightjacket for her?"
"Harley's straightjacket," Eddie repeated, as he nodded his head. He laughed manically as he undid the straps on Harley's back. "Harley's straightjacket…."
'Boy, this dude's really nuts!' Harley thought, as she peered nervously at Eddie over her shoulder. 'And I thought I was bad....'
As the buses began to roll out, the Joker checked his watch and nodded. "Right on time. And the media should have gotten my tape by now. Phase one is complete."
Eddie freed Harley from the straightjacket, but when he tried to stick his hands up her hospital gown, she slapped him away. "Back! Get back, you perv!"
"Eddie," The Joker said in a warning tone. "Behave yourself, now. There's still so much more to do before the party begins."
"Behave," Eddie said, as he giggled crazily. "Yeah, oh, yeah...Eddie behave…."
Harley stared up at the venerable Arkham Asylum and was awed to see a large portion of the facility was now in flames. She turned to the Joker and said, "All of this, freeing everybody from Arkham, is just Phase One? What's Phase Two?"
"Oh, hold on tight, Harley my dear," the Joker told her, as his ruby lips parted into one of his inhuman grins, "because the fun is just beginning."
To Be Continued....