Chapter Twenty:
Birdbrains
The florescent lighting of the large computer in the Batcave glowed dimly as Batman sat in front of it, deep in thought as he searched through files, articles, and even video footage of anything that could help him prove of Xack Hathaway's accusations of Joker stalking her. Unfortunately, he couldn't find anything- well, nothing out of the ordinary that required any further investigating. "But there has to be something," Batman thought intently, continuing to scrutinize over old security recordings from the mall which Xack had been in a few times. "Xack was never like this before Joker escaped, so why has her behavior been getting worse?" He fast forward a bit through one of the feeds. "I want to believe her- I do believe her, however..." He leaned back in his chair lazily and put a hand to his chin. "If there is nothing to prove her stories, then how can I help her?"
"Have you found anything worthy of helping Miss Hathaway, Master Bruce?" Asked Alfred as he approached Batman from behind.
Batman shook his head solemnly. "No."
Alfred cleared his throat and came around to Batman's side. "I recall you mentioning a man Miss Hathaway became highly suspicious of recently. Surely you discovered something about him?"
Again, Batman shook his head slowly. "Nothing, which is very strange..."
Alfred raised an eyebrow. "Strange, sir?"
Batman leaned forward to press a few keys on the keyboard. "Unfortunately, I never got a good look at the man, nor do I know his full name. All Xack mentioned that his name is Jason. I have nothing else to go on, except..." He showed Alfred video footage, which seemed to be shot across from the apartment complex Xack resides in. Batman stopped the recording on a certain part. On the screen, a man was hardly visible, but could still be seen nonetheless.
He pointed to the screen and replied, "This security camera from across the street caught 'Jason' exiting the building some time ago. I ran his image through the police database, but no hits."
"Hmm..." Alfred began to think. "Perhaps this man has-"
Suddenly, the Batwave was blaring throughout the Batcave, which caused some of the already perched bats to become annoyed with the sound. Batman quickly pressed a few keys to turn off the alarm, and then gazed back onto the screen to see why it set off. As he read the latest news from Gotham PD, his eyes widened in shock. "No..." He couldn't believe what he read.
"Sir?..."
Batman got up and turned to face Alfred. "Penguin's kidnapped Adam and Victoria Hathaway."
"What?" Even Alfred was surprised to hear this. "Just what would he want with the Hathaway children?"
Batman turned away. "I don't know, but...I have to go."
Just as Batman fled towards the Batmobile, he heard Alfred shout out, "I'll continue your investigation of this Jason fellow! If I find anything, I'll give you a call!"
Batman hurriedly started up the engine to his vehicle and left the Batcave posthaste.
According to his Batwave, Penguin was last seen heading down Northbane Avenue, which he assumed the villain was heading back to his old mansion hideout with the kidnapped children. All he could do was wonder why Penguin would take the Hathaway kids. "This doesn't sound like his usually MO..." Penguin knew the police are on to him now, so why would he commit a crime like this so hastily? "What's the connection? When it came to society, Penguin mainly had a grudge against-" A chilling revelation came to him. "...Did Penguin see the children...with me? Is he going to use them to get to me?"
With that haunting thought, Batman drove along the busy streets of Gotham City, wanting to reach the ruined Cobblepot manor before the GPD did. If Penguin really did take the kids, thinking they were Bruce Wayne's... "Then...it's my fault?" He questioned with uncertainty.
Xack seeing Joker when no one else does, and now Penguin kidnapping children that have no relation to his usual crimes. "Nothing makes sense..." Batman grumbled in his mind, but he knew if he dwelled on it any longer, he would give himself a horrible headache.
When he was about a mile away from the designated manor, Batman hid his Batmobile in a darkened alleyway, and went the rest of the way on foot so he wouldn't easily alarm Penguin or whatever goons the criminal had with him. He wanted to be as cautious and careful as possible, for alerting Penguin might cause him to do something drastic to Eddie and Victoria.
As Batman reached the Cobblepot manor, he strode to the nearest tree and climbed up into it so he would not be as easily spotted as he'd be on the ground. He leaned up against the trunk and took out a small pair of binoculars from his belt to peer inside through the dirtied windows. Even though their were many windows to the slowly dilapidated place, he didn't detect any movement inside, which made him feel a bit more uneasy.
"...See anything?" Batman heard from above.
He immediately looked up to spot Batgirl perched on a large branch, attempting to blend into the darkness as well. She shifted herself to get a better view of the Dark Knight below. "Penguin's in there, right? With those kids?"
Batman put his binoculars away and glared at Batgirl. "You shouldn't be here," he berated her.
Batgirl let out a frustrated sound as she shook her head slowly. "I thought we were over this," she said to him agitatedly. "I thought..." She paused for a brief moment. "I thought I was, you know, officially your sidekick now." He turned away from her and looked back upon the manor. "When we stopped Joker from turning Joey and Lindsey into clowns..." She cocked her head as she gazed onto Batman, but he seemed more focused on the Cobblepot place. "Um...are you even listening?"
Unfortunately for her, Batman didn't care to hear her try to defend her position once again. He was more intent on saving the children then explain to Batgirl why her deeds are considered dangerous to most eyes.
Batman sighed drearily. "...It's my fault..." He muttered under his breath. He didn't want to jump to conclusions as to the real reason Penguin kidnapped Eddie and Victoria, but he had a feeling it had something to do with him. "It's my fault..." he echoed quietly once more.
Batgirl leant down closer to listen to Batman more closely. "What? Your fault?" She felt bemused on his sentence. "What do you mean it's your fault?" Batman's silence remained. If anyone could see it, she rolled her eyes at him. "Fine. Don't tell me, but I know you rescued a kid once from Joker who has the same name as the one Penguin took. Is there a connection or something?" Again, Batman didn't say a word. She grunted frustratingly and crossed her arms, and decided to just watch over the manor with him.
After a few minutes, the two were startled when Batman's Batwave went off on his belt. He quickly took it off and examined the contents that appeared across his little screen. His expression looked stunned.
"What is it?" Batgirl asked curiously, seeing the surprised look on his face.
As he put the Batwave away, Batman responded, "Joker's been sighted near the shopping district."
"Huh? Joker?" Batgirl's mouth was left agape. Suddenly, she threw her arms up in the air. "Oh great, so now there's two crazy people that decide to cause chaos all of a sudden!" The girl grunted under her breath and stood up, and began to get herself down from the tree.
Batman witnessed her actions and immediately shot out an arm in attempt to grab her and stop her from leaving. He missed, which made his stomach lurch a bit with nervousness. "Wait!" He called to her a bit frantically, not wanting her to go out alone. He had a hunch she wanted to tackle Joker by herself.
When Batgirl planted her feet on the ground, she gazed back up at Batman with a serious, but determined look on her face. "...I want to help," she told him up and forthright, clenching her fists. "I can go after Joker while you rescue those kids. I can help!" She let out a wavering breath as she now sounded more pleading to his ears. "Please, Batman, just trust me for once. I want to prove that I can help you out when you need it!"
He just stared at her intently for a second. Deep in thought. Batgirl merely stared back at him with a wanting look of approval.
Batman reached for something stored in his cape, and he tossed it down for Batgirl. A little caught off guard by the sudden "gift", but she managed to catch it. She scrutinized the odd device Batman had given her, and looked back up and hoped he would explain what he dropped down. "It's a way for us to keep in touch," he told her. "If something should come up, let me know."
She had the urge to form a wry, hopeful little smile, but resisted it. As Batgirl headed off to where Joker was seen, Batman turned back to the manor, contemplating when it was the right time to strike Penguin from within.
Not a moment too soon, he felt drops of water hit his face. He looked up...and saw it was about to rain.
Inside one of the study's of the Cobblepot manor, poor Adam Edward Hathaway sat tied to a slightly worn, wooden chair, while the little girl, Victoria, lay unconscious next to Eddie on the dusty floor.
The study itself appeared to be in shambles. There was a chandelier above that was tilted towards one side, and did not look safe to be standing under. There were portraits of the former Cobblepot families lining the walls, but they were either torn, or had wear in it from old age. Then there was the Penguin himself, standing and staring out a large window, watching droplets of rain hit the glass gently.
"...I should of thought this through more..." Penguin said more to himself than the rest in the room. He went into his pocket and brought out a cellphone. As he flipped it open, he looked over the phone numbers he saved into it. "Should of figured Wayne would change his number after what happened last time." He chuckled to himself quietly as he shoved the phone back in his pocket.
He turned around to face Eddie in the chair. Eddie had ceased his sobbing from earlier, since Penguin threatened him to stop. The boy's eyes were still red and swollen, and he continued to sniffle every once in a while.
Penguin snorted uncaringly. "Doesn't matter anyways. The cops are on their way here now. I'll just make them negotiate that if they want you two back alive..." With his umbrella on hand, he pushed a well hidden button to make a large blade pop out from the end of it. He pointed the tip to Eddie's throat, and the boy started to tremble horribly with fright. "...They'll have to make Wayne pay for your ransoms!" Eddie cringed when Penguin started to laugh manically. Oddly enough, his laughter distinctly sounded like squawking birds of sorts.
"So..." Penguin moved the blade away from Eddie's neck and gazed down to the somewhat motionless Victoria. "At least the little brat finally stopped her crying! Good thing I still had some of that chloroform lying around here, else there probably would of been one less of you."
Eddie looked down at his feet, which were somewhat free, so he lightly kicked the air a few times before setting his sights on his kidnapper once more. Penguin stared back at him a bit curiously, wondering what the child was thinking. "Well..." He shrugged, "What do you have to say about that?"
The boy cocked his head ever so slightly, and even though he was still terrified out of his mind, but he didn't hesitate to answer Penguin's question. "You sound like SpongeBob," Eddie told him rather calmly. "...Are you SpongeBob?"
Penguin appeared bewildered, raising an eyebrow. "Huh? SpongeBob?" He scratched his head quizzically. "Who or what is a Sponge-Bob?" He then rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Ugh...never mind... Why even bother asking a kid!"
He paced the study for a minute before questioning Eddie once more, "How much do you think your rich daddy will pay for you two?" Penguin's eyes gleamed as he imagined how much he could charge Bruce for their safe return. "One million per head?" He snickered. "...Two million?..."
Eddie growled quietly and inwardly so that Penguin wouldn't hear. Although he was only ten and didn't quite understand fully about the adult conversations and their musings, but he was old enough to know what Penguin was talking about. He was getting a little agitated that Penguin kept mistaking Bruce for the boy's "dad."
"...Bruce is not my dad..." Eddie grumbled, head down low to the point his chin touched his chest.
He didn't expect Penguin to overhear, but when he did, he turned around and looked at Eddie with prying ears. "What was that?" He wondered out loud, going to stand in front of the boy once more. "You say something Wayne Jr.?"
He couldn't take it anymore. Eddie yelled out frustratingly, "Bruce is not my dad!"
"Of course he is!" Penguin snapped back, getting into the child's face angrily. "Why else would he be hanging around you kids? I see him with you more than once!" He then walked away from the child to cool down and compose himself. Penguin hated children, but he didn't want them getting to him. "Hmm..." He gazed out the window in thought. "Why would clowny lie?..." He mumbled under his breath.
Penguin glanced over his shoulder and onto Eddie. "You'd think brats like you would appreciate being adopted by rich jerks like Wayne!"
Suddenly, Penguin and Eddie jumped as they heard sounds of glass breaking from the next floor up. The stout man gazed up as his ears picked up pounding footsteps walking across the floors. He growled softly as his expression soured. "Sounds like we have ourselves a little intruder..." he calmly stated in an eerie way, but then he barked, "Oh, ladies!..."
Eddie tried peeking over his shoulder when he heard rather soft footsteps approach from behind. The boy could barely make it out, but he did see two women in strangely dressed jumpsuits. The large claws at their fingertips looked deadly.
"Take care of our pest!" Penguin commanded them, using his umbrella to point above him. The Kabuki looking twins gave a slight nod in understanding, and then they practically glided out of the room posthaste.
Penguin waited...and it didn't take long for the noises above to become even greater. Obviously, the twins found whatever it was causing all the commotion, and most likely engaged "it" in a fight. Penguin rolled his eyes. "Ah...I was hoping the cops would get here before the Bat came along!" He eyed the children tiredly, striding towards them with frustration.
"AAAHH!" Eddie screamed, as Penguin started to fumble with the ropes that tied him down.
Before Penguin could get all the ropes off Eddie, there was a loud thud at the study door. He looked up, eyes growing wide when he saw Batman standing in the doorway. "Oh, not you!" Penguin said exhaustedly, still attempting to get Eddie free before Batman got any closer.
To Penguin's luck, the twins were right at Batman's heels. Batman didn't even have time to react as he was sent flying away from the door when a twin came and kicked him at his side.
Eddie couldn't understand what was going on or why there was such an uproar right outside the study. The boy tried as hard as he could to look over his shoulder, and to his astonishment, he saw Batman fighting off the Kabuki twins in the manor hallway.
"Batman!" The boy screamed at the top of his lungs, his head now downwards as he watched Penguin getting the last of the ropes. "BATMAN!" When the ropes fell to the legs of the chair, Eddie tumbled out of it, still hollering for help as Penguin grabbed his arm and hauled him off the floor. "NOOOO! LET GOOO!" He shrieked loudly, resisting Penguin's grasp on him.
"Come on!" Penguin yelled, struggling with the boy to make him go the way he wanted to. "I don't have all day!" Eddie managed to slip away from his hold, and quickly ran to the opposite end of the room.
"Fine!" Penguin grunted, tired of squabbling with the young boy. "Have it your way!" He immediately eyed the still unconscious, little girl on the floor. "...but I won't be leaving here empty handed!" He growled as he ran over and scooped up Victoria in his arms. With a soft grunt, he hauled her over his shoulder and attempted to leave the study with her.
Penguin squawked when Batman jumped into the room. "Put her down, now!" Batman ordered darkly. Just after it was spoken, he was kicked from behind by the two twins, causing him to go further into the study. He crashed into the wall on the opposite side. Eddie cried out and curled up into a ball on the floor.
Penguin smirked triumphantly as he headed out with Victoria. "Get the other kid!" He told the Kabuki twins exasperatedly.
Just as Batman was getting his bearings back, he witnessed one of the twins rushing over to grab Eddie with her arms. The boy kicked and squirmed furiously to get away from the villains. "LET GOOO! BATMAN!" He shrieked again, just as Batman got back on his feet.
As the Kabuki twins left the room, Batman gained up on them from behind. He punched the one that didn't have the kidnapped child. The one quickly got back up and kicked up high into the air, aiming for Batman's head...but missed. He hastily ducked and sent a kick to her instead, causing her to fall to the ground once more. Now his gaze was set upon the one holding Eddie. The other twin though was contemplating how to get around the Dark Knight to escape with her boss. There was no way to engage Batman when she was using both arms to hold the boy.
"Drop him!" Batman commanded, pointing down for good measure.
The twin stood still for a moment, on the other hand, Eddie was far from it. "Batman!" He started to sob, tears rolling down his cheeks. "...Batman..."
All of a sudden, the Kabuki twin rushed at him, hoping to sidestep around him to get the boy to Penguin. Unfortunately, her attempts were thwarted when Batman managed to get a kick into her gut. The force of the blow made her drop Eddie to the ground. "Hide somewhere!" Batman told the boy urgently. "I'll come back for you when I have the girl." Eddie nodded weakly in response, and took off down the manor hallway to hide in a room. "Now I need to get Victoria before Penguin tries to escape with her," he said to himself, hoping the criminal was still somewhere in the manor.
Batman thought about checking the roof, incase Penguin was aiming to escape by his umbrella, but before he could exit the manor through a window, the twin whom was thrown to the floor earlier snatched his boot and made him stumble over. Peering down on his feet, he kicked his assailant away and stood back up.
He was slightly startled when his mask gave off soft 'beeping' sounds; someone was calling him. Batman pressed a button on his belt to answer. "Alfred?" He wondered, sounding a little unsure of the caller.
"Sir," Alfred started off, "I dug deeper into the real identity of this so called 'Jason' you spoke of, and I discovered something that might come of use to you." There was a brief pause on Alfred's end. "There was a Jason that lived in the complex that Miss Hathaway resides: a Jason Holquest. Lived there close to nine years, according to these records I've examined."
"Lived?" Batman stressed, dodging punches and kicks dealt by the Kabuki twins, all the while still searching for an easy exit of the manor. "Where does he live now?"
"Well...technically, he now lives beneath the soil of Gotham Cemetery. He died nearly ten years ago, Master Bruce."
"What?-" Batman grunted as one of the twins swiped her claw at him, but only did minimal damage to his torso. "I'll have to call you back." He told Alfred, landing a punch into one of the twins.
"I need to end this now and go after Penguin." Batman popped open a small latch in his belt and brought out capsules that he used to freeze Poison Ivy in her pond. "Hope this works on them too." As the twins charged at him, he made no hesitation to throw the capsules at them. Right when they made impact on the Kabuki twins, the ice started to form and freeze them in place. It was only a matter of seconds when the two were frozen to the ground. They tried to claw or thrash their way out, but to no avail.
Batman ran past them and up the manor staircase to the window he broke through to get inside. As he exited, he noticed that the rain was coming down a bit harder than earlier. Knowing this, he carefully and cautiously made his way to the rooftop, and sure enough, Penguin was there, trying to his get umbrella to open up the helicopter he installed on it. Victoria was set down next to him.
"I hate this rain!" He squawked with annoyance, still fiddling with his contraption to make it work. "This thing never works right in the rain!"
"Hold it, Penguin!" Batman called out to him, still easing his way on over.
Penguin looked up from what he was doing, and his eyes bugged out. "Don't I ever get a break from you?" He groaned in that scratchy voice of his. His eyes darted to both Batman and Victoria. His expression fell when he thought of just leaving the girl to escape from Batman. Victoria would just impede on his leaving anyhow. He knew there was no way to escape Batman when he had to haul a little girl around. He'd rather get away and try his hand at another crime than to be caught and dragged back to Arkham.
Penguin didn't breath a word when he bolted the opposite way from Batman, leaving the little girl on the roof to freeze if she didn't get some shelter soon. The Dark Knight wasn't going to let Penguin get away so easily though. He hurriedly chased after him, and when it seemed like Penguin was going to attempt to jump off the roof in hopes his umbrella would just open up into helicopter blades, Batman lashed out his grappling hook. Just as Penguin jumped, the grappling hook snagged his foot, and now the classy criminal was hanging upside-down from the manor. Batman tied the end of the hook onto an old chimney stack, and as he slowly approached the edge to get a good look at Penguin, the chubby man shouted out, "Hey! Don't leave me hanging here! Pull me up!"
Batman merely watched him squirm and grunt as he hung there. Then his attention turned to Victoria, whom he walked up to and picked her up in his arms. He wrapped his long cape around her and carefully headed back inside the manor to get Eddie, and then they would leave together.
When the Gotham police and ambulances arrived at the scene, Batman handed Victoria and Eddie to the paramedics before he quickly made off into the night...or so everyone believed. Batman stuck around by hiding high up against the manor trees, so he could hear what the police or even Penguin had to say about the incident that took place tonight.
While Eddie and Victoria were being cared for, the police hauled out the Kabuki twins on some sort of metal cart (since they were still stuck in the ice). Penguin, on the other hand, was dragged out after the twins, cooperating with the police by not struggling too much.
"...I...I didn't know they weren't Wayne's kids! How was I supposed to know?" Penguin cried defensively, his eyes looking upon the police men bringing him to one of the vehicles. He growled, "That clown tricked me! Joker tricked me! Why did he lie about that?" As he was forced into a car, his last words were, "Never trusting that screw-loose ever again! How did I fall for that one?"
Batman's lips parted slightly. "Joker?" Now he was more perplexed than ever. "Why would Joker tell him they were mine?"
He brought out his PDA and made a call to Batgirl. When he heard Batgirl pick up on her end, he asked, "How is everything on your end?"
Batgirl was silent for a moment, but then she answered back, "Um...good, actually. The police should be here soon to arrest Joker."
"You brought Joker down?" Batman questioned, sounding surprised that Batgirl caught him.
Batgirl scoffed playfully. "Didn't think I could do it, huh?" She responded back amusingly. "Actually, I couldn't believe it either. He seemed a lot...easier than last time I fought him. I mean, he didn't put up much of a fight."
Now he was the one to have gone quiet. He became lost in some of his thoughts and theories. Nothing made sense to him; although he knew if he wanted answers, he would have to get it straight from the horses mouth: Joker. "Where are you?" He finally asked her in a slightly worried tone.
"Uh...I'm in this abandoned warehouse. Um..." Her end got quiet; probably looking for something that told her exactly where she was. "I'm at the old prop warehouse. Looks like no one's been here for years..."
"I'll be there shortly." He said to her before ending their conversation. Batman hopped down from the tree and made the trip back to his Batmobile he hid in an alleyway earlier. When he started up the engine, he sped along the roads to head to his next destination, hoping the police didn't get there before he did.
When he arrived at the old prop warehouse, he slid open the decaying doors and went inside. He searched around the many stacked crates and odd props for Batgirl. Soon enough, he found her...and Joker, tied up and sitting against a crate on the floor. As Batman got closer to them, Joker turned his head away from him.
"Oh...hi!" Batgirl smiled rather cheerily, walking up to Batman.
Batman stood in front of Joker, not even acknowledging her at the moment. The young teenager grunted and placed her hands on her hips. "I thought you would be happy...or something that I got Joker!" She said to him in a somewhat upsetting manner, hoping he would praise her for a job well done. "Aren't you happy he's going back to Arkham?"
Batman stared intently at Joker, waiting for the clown to say something, anything...but he didn't. As he reached out for the clown's face, the tied up man recoiled. Batman knew it, to his dismay. "This isn't Joker," he stated rather disappointingly.
"Huh?" Batgirl looked confused. "What do you mean? Looks exactly like him."
"Did he say anything to you?" He questioned seriously, taking a quick glance at her.
Batgirl pondered for a second, but then shook her head. "...No...he didn't. Weird, because...isn't he supposed to be like a chatterbox, or something?"
Batman nodded. "Yes...and that's just it: Joker always has something to say." He reached out again, but this time he tugged on the green, dreadlocked hair. Sure enough, the hair came off and underneath was another set of hair, but only this time it was wild and blonde.
As soon as the wig came off, the fake Joker started to chortle softly. Batman narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the man. "I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later, eh, Batman?" The man said in a dark, menacing tone, now gazing up at the Dark Knight with fierce blue eyes. The contacts made to look like the real Joker had fallen out when his head was turned away.
Batgirl looked at this man and then back at Batman. "Who...who is he?" She asked meekly, appearing just as shocked as he is.
There was a pause before Batman answered, "This is Todd Allison. He's a huge follower of Joker's."
Batgirl's eyes widened. "Joker has followers?" She wondered, horrified that the crazed clown even had any.
"Many," was all Batman merely responded back with.
"-But...I am his favorite!" Todd decided to add in blissfully, smiling with joy as he did.
Batman eyed the deranged man almost hatefully. "Why are you dressed like Joker?" He demanded harshly from Todd.
Todd continued to chuckle, shaking his head. "You really have no idea, do you? You have...absolutely no idea what's going on, do you?"
"That's why I came here," Batman told Todd in a darkened tone. "I want answers, Allison. What is this all about? Why has Joker told Penguin that the Hathaway children are Bruce Wayne's?..." He broke from his sentence to weigh in on his thoughts...then he added, "How does Xack Hathaway fit into all this?"
Todd grinned, eyeing the two vigilantes psychotically. "On-on the contrary, that 'Xack' girl has everything to do with it!" He tried standing up, but it only resulted him falling back down on his behind. He shifted about before continuing. "That poor, helpless girl...telling everyone that the devil has come to her, and not one pathetic soul believes her..." He shook his head, letting out a few short laughs. "Too bad she was really telling the truth."
Batman was taken aback by his words. Todd noticed Batman's shock, and his grin grew wider. "Oh, yes, Batman, and I take it you were also included as her 'nonbelievers', hmm? While Joker had paid her little visits every now and then, I was the one taking his place on the streets." He titled his head back slightly, moaning pitifully. "Oh, th-there were so many girls with beautiful red hair, and I...and I couldn't touch one of them- not any one of them! Th-the devil told me not to this time..." His sight fell on Batgirl, peering at her longingly...murderously. She didn't like his crazed expression so she took a few steps back to be on the safe side.
Batman still didn't seem satisfied with his "confessions." "You didn't tell me why Joker has lied to Penguin about-"
"I was getting to that!" Todd spat back, grinding his teeth in frustration. "I-I was still talking, Batman. It's very rude to interrupt!" He shuddered where he sat, gazing down on his bare feet. "My savior...told me to tell you everything if I got caught tonight- said it would be too late once you found out...everything..." His face fell, biting his bottom lip gently. "I...I told him I was sure to keep you distracted long enough...but..." He took a quick glance back to Batgirl. "I wasn't expecting a pretty girl like her to see me..."
Batman was getting tired of Todd's little game. "What are you hiding?"
Todd laughed, bringing his legs up to his chest as he did. "Alright...I'll tell you," he said in a menacing manner. "Joker wanted to be alone with his Xack- long enough to escape with her, but...but he-he knew he couldn't do it with you watching out for her every damn day! S-so, when he heard of that fat birdman escaping from Arkham...he had an idea: he thought...if there was a way for that Penguin to distract you away from the Hathaway girl, long enough to take her away...well..." Todd shrugged nonchalantly. "I think you should understand the rest now..."
"No..." It wall all a little too much for Batman to bear. There were so many thoughts racing through his mind now. His heart sank. All the times Xack had pleaded with him- begged, for him to believe her...and he just turned a blind eye, partially blaming it on her insanity.
"Batman?..." Batman turned to look at Batgirl, whom had a concerned expression on her face. "Wh-what are you going to do now?"
He hesitated, but hastily hit a button on his belt to get a hold of Xack on her apartment phone.
The line was dead.
He tried her cellphone, but it went straight to her voicemail. Her phone was turned off.
"No..." he whispered with worriment.
"Heh, you see?" Todd piped up gleefully. "I told you he would get her, didn't I? Makes it so much easier living right across from her too-"
Batman snapped. He punched Todd squarely in the jaw, causing the man to fall to the ground. He turned on his heel and ran for the doors to leave the warehouse. "Stay here until the police show up. They'll take care of the rest." He told Batgirl just before he left. Batgirl looked onto Todd nervously, especially hearing he had a strange "fondness" for red-headed women.
As Batman left the warehouse and got into his Batmobile once again, he raced down the streets and prayed he could reach Xack in time before Joker did. He hated, and greatly disgusted him that Joker was hiding out right across from her the whole time. He couldn't believe it. In his head, he can see "Jason"...standing next to Xack, then turning his head to stare at Batman- laughing. He kept on laughing. That horrible laughter ringing through Batman's ears.
Still laughing...and laughing...and laughing...
...and laughing...
author's note: I'm so sorry for not updating in so long. I've had a writer's block over this chapter for a long time AND, well...life just happens sometimes. ^^; Anyways, I don't have much to say about this chapter. The next one will be going over to see how Xack is doing while all THAT is happening...
to K T: Well, I guess I don't blame Xack for going crazy, and the fact that no one really wants to help her just makes it worse. ...and yeah, I figured by now that it's obvious that Jason...isn't exactly who he is. I guess Penguin didn't find it suspicious that the children weren't at the manor, because he thought that maybe Bruce Wayne brought them over to a friend's/babysitter's house while Bruce went out somewhere?