CRASH!
The third card panel went flying from a kick from Robin, narrowly missing the Mad Hatter. Tetch only laughed and vanished behind another panel.
"Give up, Tetch!" Robin shouted. "The game's over!"
"Contrariwise," came the clipped reply. "If it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic."
Joe spat. "Let us outta here, or I'm gonna split yer… uh…" he suddenly remembered Robin standing next to him and grinned nervously. "Paycheck?"
"Nice try. Hatter! Stop!" Robin shouted, as the Mad Hatter's frock coat disappeared around a corner. Dashing to the corner, he caught sight of Tetch, one gloved hand on the maze control, the other reaching for something out of Robin's sight. "Why are you doing this?"
Jervis Tetch blinked, and for a moment a trace of lucidity came back to his face. Just as quickly, it was replaced by a look of deep hatred.
"Why? Why? You of all people ask me why? I had a chance to be happy once, happy and free and in love and the whole world was frabjabulous… and then he had the nerve to barge in and tear it all away from me!" Tetch's voice became almost hysterical. "I loved Alice with every fiber of my body, I loved her! And if it weren't for that meddling, interfering, busybody Bat, we might have been happy together! But no, no, he had to step and ruin everything! Everything!"
There was a tremendous crash, and a long line of cards came toppling down like a line of dominoes. At the same time, the floor Tetch was standing on swung around, leaving the corridor empty. Robin jumped clear and nimbly vaulted over the nearest panel towards the Mad Hatter's exit, leaving Bruce, Joe, and the tea house owner to follow him.
"Fantastic Monster!" the Mad Hatter spat. "The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame… all he cared about was ruining my life. Even when I gave him everything, he had to come back, throwing away his chance at happiness just so he could ruin mine! There can be only one punishment for such perfidious behavior! Off with his head!"
With this last sentence, a nearby Two of Spades toppled over to reveal Jervis Tetch, the Mad Hatter, holding a long, gleaming sword. Robin sighed. He was seriously beginning to wonder where Tetch got his weaponry from.
"But it's all so much clearer now," the Mad Hatter said, with an unsettling grin. "One-two, one-two, and through and through! His vorpal blade went snicker-snack! He left it dead, and with its head, he went galumphing back!" Tetch pressed a button on the sword's hilt and electricity suddenly arced over the blade. Robin jumped back. "If I can't have Alice… I'll have Wonderland yet!"
The Mad Hatter took a wild swing at Robin, who somersaulted easily out of harm's way. The electrified sword clanged loudly against the maze panel, knocking over the Four of Diamonds and Jack of Hearts. Robin charged at him, but the Mad Hatter sidestepped at the last moment and narrowly missed the Boy Wonder with the electrified blade. Rebounding off the maze floor, Robin sent the sword flying from Tetch's hand with a well-aimed kick. The Mad Hatter gasped, his eyes widening as he backed away from Robin. With his attention on Robin, he backed straight into the burly arms of Joe the thug, closely seconded by Bruce Wayne.
"Well, hello there," Joe sneered, grabbing Tetch by the collar of his frock coat.
"Look out!" Bruce shouted, but it was too late. The Mad Hatter slipped a 10/6 card out of his sleeve and onto Joe's head.
"Unhand me this moment!" the Mad Hatter snapped.
"Yes sir, Mr. Hat," Joe replied obediently, lowering Tetch to the ground. "Whatever you say."
"Oh, great," Robin groaned. Bruce made a grab for the card, but Joe shifted out of the way and turned to face the billionaire, eyes completely blank.
"Don't let him touch your hat!" Tetch snapped. "The game's going on rather better now. Up, you lazy thing! and give these guests a spot of trouble or two."
Joe—or was it Hatter?—apparently thought Bruce Wayne posed the bigger threat, and advanced on him, hands outstretched. Jervis Tetch blocked a blow from Robin and turned to pick up his "vorpal sword",
"Help!" Bruce yelped, ducking underneath Joe's fists and conveniently falling to the ground right in front of the Mad Hatter. Tetch tripped on Wayne's legs and went sprawling in a corner, the oversized top hat tumbling off his head and rolling into a corner. Without anyone to control him, Joe froze in place, looking like a puppet which had had its strings cut.
"My hat!" the British villain shouted. Robin was on top of the Mad Hatter in a moment, twisting one arm behind him into a painful headlock.
"Don't move," he advised Tetch. The Englishman only groaned faintly. Robin pulled Tetch's other arm back and cuffed the Hatter's wrists securely. "Your little game is over."
"What do we do with him?" Bruce Wayne asked.
"We'll leave him here and come back for him once we've got Riddler," Robin said. "Then we'll take all three back to Arkham where they belong."
"All the king's horses… and all the king's men…" Tetch mumbled sadly.
Bruce carefully removed the mind control card from Joe's head, and the thug sprang to life again.
"What the—" Seeing the Mad Hatter, Joe's face contorted with fury. "Card me again, will ya? I'm gonna teach you a lesson, ya little freak!"
Before Robin could stop him, the burly thug delivered a mighty kick to Tetch's prone form. There was an audible crack as Joe's heavy boot connected with the Hatter's ribs. The Mad Hatter gasped and rolled over, spitting out blood.
"What did you do that for?" Bruce roared, grabbing Joe by the collar and slamming him against the maze wall. "Tetch is a sick man! He needs help, not a broken rib!"
"Temper, temper, Mr. Wayne," came the Riddler's voice. "I can just see the headlines now—'Billionaire Assaults Man in Warehouse Maze.' Of course, that's assuming you actually make it out of the warehouse maze… which I highly doubt will happen."
"Riddler, I've already taken down Scarecrow and the Mad Hatter," Robin said, addressing the ceiling. "We both know I'm going to find you and take you back to Arkham."
"Mmmm, ambitious, aren't we? What goes up must come down, but what goes down often comes back up!" the Riddler chuckled. "But I must say, Batman's extended absence is a most puzzling riddle. Any ideas?"
"That's it?" Robin said. "That's the riddle?"
"Exactly," the Riddler purred. "As the Mad Hatter so accurately put it—where's Batman? I'll need an answer quickly… and so, my friend, will you."