A/N: Get the contest answers in before the tenth guys! Thank you to all who reviewed, favorite, followed, became Batman, etc.

Skylark Potter: Thank you so much! I was especially proud of our dear Mistah J in that chapter; I thought I did a pretty swell job of keeping him in character.

katielousie10x: Aw shucks, kid, you're making me blush! And of course I take time to respond to your reviews! If people take the time to review, and need to take time to appreciate them! Thank you so much, I tried to add a lot of description but not so much that people would skip a few paragraphs. And I thought of the Hunger Games a lil' bit too after I posted it, but originally I wanted to give him a good ending line and figured that that was perfect.

Queen of Sharks: Lol, you actually just made me laugh. Yeah so if anyone finds the Tiger that Andrew lost, could you return her? I kinda need her for the story lol

writer's legend: Chaos is so much fun! In Global yesterday, we learned about different government systems, and me and my friend Gillien agreed that Anarchy sounded most fun! And katielouise10x and I also think it sounds like the Hunger Games, lol. And I didn't want everyone to be spineless, I wanted to show that there are people willing to stand up against evil, even if they lose their lives. Because in the end, good always wins. It takes a lot, it's cheesy, but it's true. And although Bruce is supposed to be a "party guy", I feel like Sofia would be able to bring out the determined side of him a bit more. Plus it's always fun when someone is lying and you know the truth :) And just wait, it will be quite interesting, I'm thinking about all different ideas for Batsy's entrance :)

Disclaimer (In super-fast commercial guy voice): SmieledoesnotownBatmanwhichs olelybelongstoDCComicsThepur poseofthisstoryissolelyforen tertainementandinnowayespres sestheviewsofDCComicsBatmano ranyofthereaffiliatesincludi ngAlfredPennyworthandCommiss ionerJamesGordonAllrightsres ervedShakewellbeforeuse.

Chapter 11:

The trust fund brigade (which had frightened Harvey Dent only months before) now only stared at him stupidly. To give them a little motivation, the Joker shot twice into the air. As you can imagine, that got them moving. The so-called "sophisticates" of Gotham were now trampling each other in quite the undignified manner to exit the room. Most got out fine, but those on the outside of the pack were shot at, most dropping dead immediately. The gunshots created a disturbing harmony with the clown's maniacal giggles and guffaws. Once the room was vacant of Gotham's more refined folk, Conor called out to the Joker.

"Hey, boss?"

The Joker stopped his cachinnations and turned to glare at the lackey, stilled peeved that none of them had a better name for him yet.

"Yes?" he hissed, and Conor faltered.

"I-I just wanted to know if you wanted us to try and find the Bat?" he managed to get out.

The Joker shook his head erratically. "Oh, no. No. No no no no no no no. We're going off to, uh, rescue the princess," he smirked. "And if any civilians get in our way, I expect them to be shut up and shot up. Got it?" he walked out the door and motioned them to follow.

Conor nodded, but Andrew decided to question the boss' motives. Due to the fact that he was the one who lost Sofia in the first place, this was a considerably dense move.

"What if they got a Wayne Enterprises member with 'em?" Andrew asked. The Joker finished placing a small silver object with a note on a table and slowly turned around.

"Well in that case, you can shoot them both until they BLEED OUT!" he yelled, kicking the subordinate down and giving him a good beating. He knelt down beside the goon and flicked out a knife. When Andrew lay shivering on the floor, the Clown Prince of Crime he turned to his goons and eerily grinned at them. Inadvertent shivers crawled up their spines.

"Now, I'd just love to do a whole Q & A thing here, but it's time for, uh, some tiger hunting." With that, they left Andrew on the floor, his now detached tongue on the floor next to him.

"Shit!" Batman slammed his hands down on the desk in front of the CCTV. He hadn't known how long the Joker's little game had kept him there, but it was surely long enough for the villainous clown to cause serious damage. In fact, Batman was surprised that he hadn't set fire to the mansion. Then again, that had already been done. The Joker would have killed anyone in sight.

That was why the Dark Knight was confused when he entered the ballroom to find roughly 35 corpses. Now, this wasn't a small number, but was relatively considering about ten times that had attended. He searched the ground to search for survivors, but found only one, a clown-masked man. Unveiling the goon, he saw Andrew's face and suspended the man by his collar.

"Where is he?!" he growled at the mutilated man, who winced in pain, frantically pointing at his mouth then at the ground where his tongue lay. The Caped Crusader dropped him, sickened. Suddenly, a flash of silver caught his eye. He strode over to a small round table that held a vase with flowers. That wasn't the strange part though. The table cloth was covered in blood, as well as a Joker card addressed to "Batsy" and a small recording device, the flash of silver.

He pushed down a white button with a "play" symbol on it. All of the night's events so far had been recorded. Apparently, the Joker wanted him caught up to speed. How thoughtful. Batman thought sarcastically; but by the time the words "Let the games begin" were said, Batman was steaming mad. He smashed the device with his fist and panted furiously.

"Ya know, anger management courses are another option. Of course, running around punching stuff seems to be pretty fun too." Sofia's voice drawled.

"Mr. Wayne said you were safe. How did you get out?" Batman asked in surprise.

She smiled slightly. "Mr. Wayne didn't realize that I knew the hidden service passages, including the ones to exit the room. I mean, it took a while to remember which book to pull out-"

"Book?" he questioned and she grinned widely.

"You know in how in movies, in big haunted houses or mansions there's one book you pull out and the bookcase spins around? Well, Mr. Wayne wanted one of those. I just haven't been in this wing in a while, so I forgot which book."

He smirked at her, but grew serious. "You really should have stayed hidden, you know. The Joker's looking for you around the house."

She sadly smiled at him. "I'm sorry. Maybe I should have, I don't know. But while everyone's off trying to protect me from being kidnapped again, more people are dying. I saw the ballroom, Batman. I can't just let him kill everyone if I know that there's something I can do to prevent it. I'm sure you understand." She finished with pleading eyes.

"I'll let you stay out, but you need to stick close. First sign of the Joker, I want you to run in the exact opposite direction. No buts." He finished determinedly and she nodded.

Slowly, they stalked down the halls, trying to find any possible survivors. This effort was in vain though. Every way they walked, the only thing that met them was unbroken silence.

Coleman Reese had worked at Wayne Enterprises for most of his adult life, and had worked hard to reach the position he was in now.

Surprisingly, Wayne had let Reese keep his spot on the Board of Directors at Wayne Enterprises even though he had threatened to give up Batman's identity. There was no longer a shred of doubt in Reese's mind that it was Wayne, but even if he wanted to tell the secret, he couldn't. Although the Batman was now a wanted fugitive, Reese owed the vigilante a life debt, something hard to make up for.

And now Reese had been invited to Wayne's party. He was shocked at first, but realized that almost every employee had come. Probably some "celebrate because the Joker didn't choose to kidnap you" kind of thing. Then, ironically enough, the Joker shows up and again tells people to kill Reese, even if it was indirectly.

He thought about going with someone, maybe to save another civilian, but he'd probably die in the process. No, he'd just have to wait for Wayne to dress up again and save the day. Honestly, Coleman Reese thought his boss had serious mental issues at first, but now he understood where the man was coming from.

What with all the fraudulent figures, dishonest DA's, and crooked cops, it was sensible, even noble, for someone to bring justice. Not that Reese himself would even attempt it. There was too much flight risk and not enough money to fund these escapades unless you were Wayne.

Laughter erupted down the hall. Speaking of escapades, where's the human Bat when you need him? Reese thought. He slunk down the walls in the opposite direction of the noise, but was grabbed around the collar and dragged off into a separate room.

"Well, well, well! If it isn't Coleman Reese. Mr. Reese, a, uh, man of many mysteries. Long time no see, eh Cole-man?" The Joker drawled out. When he didn't answer, the Joker walked up to him and growled. "You know Reese, it's, ah, considered polite to answer when SOMEONE IS TALKING TO YOU!" he bellowed.

"You want an answer? Go to hell." Reese replied defiantly, causing him to receive a punch in the gut.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Sir, where are your manners? I bet your boss would be ashamed to have one of his employees act in such a disgraceful manner towards a guest." He grinned.

Reese looked at him suspiciously and stated. "You weren't invited."

Rolling his eyes, the Joker answered. "You don't say?" he clicked the "t" in don't. "No, Mr. Reese, I wasn't invited. But as a guest in Wayne's house I expect to be shown proper etiquette." He slapped Reese across the face and slipped a knife between his teeth, the poor man's eyes widening in terror.

"I should've killed you when I last had the opportunity. But there isn't much rush right now, so first I'm gonna tell you a story."

Leaning in close, he questioned. "Wanna know how I got these scars?"

The insane howling in humor was ringing through the hallways and Batman turned to Sofia and said two simple words that had her running right away. "Go now."

She took off running in the opposite direction of the Batman.

Batman didn't take the time to watch her leave. He turned and swept down the hall.

Sofia was running the other way, laughter echoing through her ears.

He was getting closer to the clown.

She was getting closer to the exit.

He opened the door at the end of the hall-

She opened the door at the end of the hall-

-and found Coleman Reese dead on the ground. A Glasglow grin carved into his face. The rest of the room was empty.

-and ran out into the maddening freedom, rain pouring down onto her head. Someone reached around her and-

-It was a trap. Batman needed to find Sofia, but in his heart, he knew it was too late.

-pressed a white cloth over her mouth and nose. "Excuse me, does this smell like chloroform to you?"