Chapter 37

Joker paced on the balcony of Ann's apartment. Somehow being near her favorite spot helped to calm him. It had been a whole day since he had found her bloody knife laying on the floor of the covered parking lot among a significant amount of blood. Worry flooded through him constantly, something that he wouldn't care to admit. Never mind that everyone already knew anyway.

At least, he thought, she had definitely put up a fight. All through the area were other, bigger pools of blood. Apparently the blonde Ashley had been captured as well. Devon had expressed worry before they had even known of their disappearance. Ashley had texted him explaining that Ann was bringing her to see him, meaning that they had been together. Devon's worry had lead to the discovery of Ann's car and her knife.

As much as it was killing him there was nothing he could do. He knew that the Knights had to have a safe house or two in the city. Even if it hadn't been there before, he knew his father. One would have been established by now. But even knowing that they were there made no difference if he didn't know where to look. He had been threatening and coercing people all day. No one seemed to know anything about the safe house, much less where it was.

Donivan and his friend had been less than helpful. Michael's pissed off older brother had been so adamant about keeping his mouth shut that he refused to talk even when Joker had threatened to murder his friend, which he had done eagerly. The bloodshed had helped settle his moods, but done little else.

Frustrated and angry he lashed out with his anger to punch the concrete wall on the end of her balcony. After pulling his hand away he noted that the concrete showed no signs of harm. His hand, however, was a different story.

Footsteps at the sliding door took his attention. A glimmer of hope, maybe? "Hey, I found someone who says he knows where she is." Duane told him from the door. "How did you even know she was missing?" Jacob commented from the couch. "Devon told me. Look you wanna see him or not?" Duane replied with frustration. Joker nodded but someone caught his attention when he stepped inside the room.

Bruce leaned against the wall near the door in the same spot that he had occupied several nights before.

Joker sighed. This would be a long day.

~Ann~

The headache pulsed in her brain over and over again, rousing her from her blank and silent sleep. Movement was pain. A weightless feeling came over her. She felt almost as if she were floating. Groaning she reached to hold her head only to find that her arms were being held back. Shock flooded through her as her eyes shot open.

The room was dark and dank. The wall across from her looked to be made of metal, as was the door. There was no furniture. She appeared to be alone in the room. Once conscious she was able to realize that she was bound at her wrists and ankles with what appeared to be a heavy set of hand cuffs. Her trench coat had been removed, as well as all of her weapons and her boots. The wristband of the hand cuffs were about three inches wide and made of metal that chaffed her skin. They were held together with a short but heavy chain. They reminded her of the manacles worn by prisoners in medieval times. Her ankles were bound by a similar setup, only with a slightly longer chain.

Akira was silent in her mind, meaning she was sleeping. Possibly recovering from her recent exposure.

She discovered that the floating sensation she felt was caused by being suspended from the ceiling by a heavy chain with a metal hook on the end that was currently 'hooked' to the chain of her manacles. Remembering the events of her capture she immediately began seeking a way to free herself. Below her was some sort of old looking wash tub filled with water that her feet were currently dangling in. She was in the middle of the room, away from any wall that she might gain leverage from. So walking up the wall using the chain that held her wasn't an option. She would have to climb strait up the chain itself. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but her hands were bound with only a minimal amount of moving room.

She pulled herself upward as far as she could with one hand while reaching with the other and slowly began to climb. It wasn't long before her hand slipped and she was right back where she started. After several attempts she eventually gave up on that idea. It was too tiring.

After swinging there a moment she came up with another idea. But before she could follow through with it there was a loud creaking noise from the door as it opened to reveal a tall but burly looking man wearing a brown knee length furry coat. He had short dirty blond hair and didn't look very smart. He reminded her of an Egor type of person. She snickered at the thought which brought her a glare from the man. Behind him was a shorter, less masculine, man with wild looking grey and black hair that curled around his face. This man was wearing what looked like a lab coat and a pair of wiry glasses perched on the end of his nose. He was dragging what looked to be a metal box with wheels and two thick wires protruding from it.

"Who are you people? Why am I being held here?" She asked in a loud and commanding voice. "It is not up to you to provide questions. Only answers." The blonde informed her as the shorter man dragged the box behind her somewhere.

"Fuck you. I answer to no one." Ann told him defiantly. The blonde smirked and began pacing to her right and closer to her. "You'll answer to me!" He suddenly yelled as he lunged at her and his fist smashed into the side of her face. She felt a bit of fresh blood leak from the corner of her mouth where he had busted her lip. Suddenly angry she lashed out kicking at him. He laughed as he backed out of her reach. She let out a frustrated yell.

"Now, on to business. I'll start simple. Just before you were rendered unconscious, there was a change in your personality. What was it?" He asked in a polite tone. "I saw your mother and got a bit disgusted." She replied in a sassy tone. He snarled and punched her in the stomach. Her ribs burned from the sudden movement and she coughed. "You hear voices from time to time, correct?" He asked. "Only ones that remind me of how ugly you are." She told him in an angry voice. He sighed and crossed his arms. "Looks like she's not going to cooperate. Let her have it." He told the short man. A sudden and shocking pain coursed through her whole body, forcing her muscles to spasm and her back to arch as she opened her mouth to scream. Rational thought wasn't possible. After what seemed forever it stopped and her body collapsed to hang limply from the chain. After a moment she slowly raised her head as her body began to regain some functionality. She realized that she must have been shocked somehow. Then she remembered the metal box. Glancing down she was able to make out two clamps attached to the metal tub at her feet containing the water. Groaning she looked back up at the blonde. Her body was significantly weaker now.

This torture continued for several hours. After the first time she began pulling up her feet when she knew that she was about to be shocked. When she did this, however, the blonde would only punch her until her feet came into contact with the water. She was proud of the fact that she had not given into their demands. But by the time they finally given up and left her, her body was exhausted and she was on the verge of passing out. She had only managed to get them to leave by fainting unconsciousness.

She knew she couldn't let herself fall asleep. Ashley was in this hole somewhere as well, probably undergoing the same treatment as she currently was.

She tried desperately to make her body move. She began swinging back and forth as she had originally planned before she was interrupted. But her body was too exhausted. She realized that she was going to need her strength if she was ever going to get out of there. And even if she did manage to get off the hook, she still may well have to fight through a whole army of people to get out alive. She was going to need a lot of strength. So she finally gave into her body's desire to sleep, praying that Ashley was okay.

~Ashley's POV~

A sudden and sharp bucket of cold water to her face woke her from her slumber. Angry at the rudeness of her awakening she decided to promptly bitch out whom ever had pulled the horrible prank on her. And that's exactly what she did. Insults flew from her mouth as she began to try to beat whom ever was in her way. This abruptly stopped however when she found herself unable to move her arms or legs. Noticing her surroundings for the first time she realized she was in a wooden chair with her hands tied behind her back and her legs duck taped to the legs of the chair. It all came back to her at that point and she was suddenly in fear for her life as she looked up at the man whom had awoken her.

He stared down at her with an amused expression on his face. "Well now. Don't you have a mouth?" He asked sarcastically before leaning down close to her face. "I'm going to have fun with you."

After the first encounter Ann was never given any time to follow through with her escape ideas. She was never alone long enough for her to manage to get off the hook that held her. She did begin to notice that when she woke from sleeping she would be alone shortly before they returned. The torture continued as before. The blonde, whom still refused to give her his name, continuously came up with new ways of inflicting pain on her. At one point he had pierced her skin with fishing hooks. So far all their efforts had been useless. She had to give him bonus points for creativity though.

After the fish hook event, however, Alexander had shown up and severely griped at the blonde. Ann was guessing that he didn't want her dead until he knew whatever it was that he wanted to know. By now she had a reasonable understanding that it had something to do with Akira. Ann was beginning to wonder if her mother had a split personality also. Akira had awakened in her mind long ago. Ann wasn't sure how long she had been in the hole that she was in, but having Akira definitely proved useful.

Ann discovered that Akira knew how to do quite a few helpful things. The best of which was to help raise her pain tolerance. This was a very unique ability which Ann wished she would have shared long ago. Ann discovered that by focusing on something other than her pain she could ignore the majority of it if she concentrated hard enough. For example, when the pain of her broken ribs were bothering her she would simply put all of her attention on her toes or a finger. It was strange, but she actually thought that by doing this she felt more acutely in the area she was concentrating on.

Of course, this technique wouldn't work if her whole body was being shocked. This is where Akira came in handy yet again. Akira seemed to be able to draw most of that pain away by pulling at Ann's state of consciousness. Ann was beginning to pick up a few things from her. Through her instruction she was learning how to draw her own consciousness into herself. This left her aware of her surroundings but unable to feel anything at all. It was like her own mind was protecting her. She hadn't quite mastered this yet, as her concentration would slip after only remaining within herself for a minute or two. Akira also provided a conversational companion when she was left alone.

Akira had definitely learned a lot being inside Ann's mind for all those years. And Ann was grateful at this point. By now Ann already had a somewhat solid escape plan. Ann had already worked out how to get off the chain and hook and even out of her 'cell' if everything went as planned. The problem was finding enough time between being unconscious and being tortured to follow through with it.

Ann could tell that her lack of cooperation and her new found abilities greatly frustrated the blonde man, who found it infuriating. Even Alexander had begun showing up a lot since she began being more difficult to hurt. The only answers they could get from her were insults and laughs. Ann had discovered that laughing at their attempts was the best way to make herself feel better. She briefly wondered if Joker had gone through a similar experience.

Her efforts in concentration, despite the less amount of pain, still had its effects on her body. Though her mind was strong and she could get through the torture sessions easier, her body was still beaten, tired, and broken.

At this point Ann's main concern was Ashley, if she was even still alive.

~Ashley's POV~

It felt like she had been there for weeks. Both her body and mind were exhausted beyond the breaking point.

It seemed like she was either sleeping from exhaustion or being hurt. From what she could tell, she hadn't received any major injuries. She was guessing that they must still plan to use her against her friend. If help didn't come soon, all was lost. The door to her small room creaked open to reveal the figure of her agony. She groaned in annoyance.

~Ann's POV~

She figured it was now or never. Her captors had just left and she was still conscious.

Despite her broken and exhausted body she began rocking back and forth until she was swinging as high as she could. Then at the top of the swing she lifted her knees and then wrapped her legs around the chain. Every movement killed her. She was now upside down. Holding on tightly with her legs she was able to lift her hands free of the hook holding her there. She then dropped, ungracefully, to the floor. So much movement caused her ribs to scream at her in pain, telling her that she had been right in assuming that at least one was broken. When she felt of the affected area she counted three. It was possible that there were more.

She surveyed her surroundings grudgingly. The room was still as barren as it had been before, with the exception of the device that she had come to hate.

She dragged herself to the door and examined it. There was a built in lock which reminded her of an old fashioned one that required a skeleton key. She could actually see outside the door if she looked through the key hole.

She made her way back to the voltage box as planned. After unclamping one of the wires, and making sure the machine was indeed off, she began trying to rid the wire of the clamp and plastic insulation. By bending the thick wire back and forth over and over she was able to break it where it met the clamp. To get the insulation off she wound up biting at it until there was enough of it stripped away for her to grab a hold of it.

The wire was copper and made up of dozens of smaller wires twisted around each other. She was able to pry away one of these small wires to use as a lock pick.

Normally she wouldn't have hesitated to make a quick exit. But seeing as how she had no idea where she was or how many people she would have to go through she decided to fashion a weapon of some kind. Plus her tormentors had only just left, indication they wouldn't be back for awhile since they thought her unconscious.

She bent the thick wire again until it broke about a foot from the end. She left some of the plastic at the base to use as a grip. She then began pulling the outside layers away until the end was smaller than the base. After that she twisted the small wires so that they made somewhat of a spiral. This took maybe ten to twenty minutes of her time. She touched the end of it and decided that it was better than nothing.

Going back to the door she began working with the small wire to unlock the door.

She wouldn't have thought such a simple looking lock would have been so difficult to open. It took her awhile, but after at least ten minutes of manipulating the wire she managed to open the lock. Remembering that the door creaked loudly she slowly pushed it open.

She stood in a dark and dank hallway that nearly matched the interior of the room she had been in. The walls were the same steel colored metal. It seemed that there were only a few doors in the hall. After closing the door behind her she slowly made her way down the hall using the wall to help support herself. The chain connecting her feet made walking slightly difficult, but she was able to manage by taking small steps. When she rounded a corner and neared the end of the hall she came upon two doors on either side. One was silent and had been left slightly ajar. From the other she could hear the muffled sounds of a girl crying. After listening a moment she could hear the sounds of the blonde man cockily taunting her, and then the sound of Ashley's unmistakable cursing.

Anger once again flooded through her at the thought of the bastards torturing Ashley as they had her. But she forced herself to remain calm and in control. She was in no condition to be fighting at all, much less the imbecilic brute behind the door. Thinking quickly she slowly and quietly pushed open the other door that had been left ajar and then closed it behind her, making sure to leave it as it had been before.

The room was dark. The only light in the room was from the small crack in the door. Luckily it was unoccupied. Her only option was to sit quietly and wait for their captors to leave Ashley's room and, hopefully not come through the door that she was crouched behind.

She had almost dozed off three times now. She had been crouched by the door for at least a half hour and every second that ticked by was killing her. It took every ounce of her self control to keep herself from bursting through the door and attempting to murder all in the room that were hurting her friend. Out of boredom and necessity she had begun working to remove the manacles on her ankles. It had taken awhile, but she had managed to get one of them free. She unlocked the other in less time than the first now that she knew how to do it.

She was about to begin trying to free her hands when there was a sudden and loud explosion somewhere above her and the whole room shook. Ann was thrown back onto her butt. Moments later the two goons fled Ashley's room and headed the direction she had originally been heading.

A bit stunned and shocked Ann stood. She wasted no time. What ever was going on, it was their perfect chance. She made her way to the hall then threw open the door Ashley was behind.

She found the blond woman sitting in a wooden chair and tied up in the classic movie scene. Once Ann got a bit closer Ashley recognized her. "Oh my God! I'm so glad your ok! How did you get out?" Ashley cried happily. "Doesn't matter. We gotta go." Ann explained as she began untying the knots on Ashley's hands. After a minute her hands were free and they both worked at untying her feet. "They handcuffed you? Those look like some really strong handcuffs." Ashley commented as her feet came free. Ann moved to the door. "They had them on my feet too." Ann told her as she inspected the hall for any signs of people.

Minutes later and they were making their way through the hall towards where the men had disappeared. Almost immediately they were confronted with a dead end. But against the dead end wall was a ladder that went up to the ceiling. Ann couldn't see any kind of opening in the ceiling. She almost ignored it and assumed that they had missed a turn somewhere. But it was Ashley who immediately began climbing the ladder. "Hey. There's a trap door here." Ashley told her as she pushed on the ceiling. Ann was impressed. Ashley had probably just saved them another ten minutes of wandering around in the dark halls.

Ann followed Ashley up the ladder to discover that they had come through the floor under a large tapestry sort of rug. After a few moments of thrashing about they managed to get the rug away from the trap door.

Once out of the hole Ann looked around as the two women ducked next to a rather large stair case. There weren't any windows in the large room, so Ann was assuming that they were still underground. Now that they were out of the lower basement the sound of gun fire was loud and penetrating. Obviously the Knights were fighting with someone. Ann was hoping that it would be Joker or Bruce. But she highly doubted that. There would have been no way for them to track her here. They slowly and quietly began to make their way to the next floor, being cautious to avoid detection.

~Meanwhile~

They had managed to break past the mansions outer defenses and were now inside the large building that was housing the Knights. Joker still didn't trust the man that had long since disappeared into the dark of the area.

~ "I can find her faster." The character shrouded in black had told him. Joker seethed. "Fine." He raised his hand holding the pristine sword. "This is hers. Take it to her." He told him. It was probably the hardest thing he had ever done. No one had ever touched her sword but him. Batman took the sword and proceeded to vanish into the night.~

The people here were definitely putting up a fight. So this was most likely the right place. The other men were busy trying to break down a door with a life sized statue. Whoever was on the other side had obviously piled furniture against the door, hoping to keep the intruders out. The loud thump of the statue against the wood door was heard every five or so seconds.

Joker's henchmen had captured a group of girls and women that had obviously been serving as concubines and whores. They were all scantily clothed with huge bouncing tits. "What should we do with them boss?" A man asked. Joker knew what the real question had been in the man's voice. Spoils of war?

Disgusted with the man Joker walked over to talk to the women. He walked up to the most collected one that seemed the least scared. She was tall. Her hair was a mass of blonde curls that lightly bounced around her shoulders and framed her face. She was the only one not crying. "You worked willingly for the men in this mansion?" He asked her. "Some of us did." The blonde told him. Looking her up and down something shiny caught his attention. He grasped her wrist to bring it closer. There around her wrist was the bracelet he had given Ann. The words ~Never forget~ flooded his mind.

Furious he ripped the bracelet from the blonde's wrist causing her to scream in protest as her arm was nearly jerked out of socket. He ignored her as he ran his fingers over the smooth metal. His dangerous eyes darted back to her. "I take it 'you' worked willingly." He commented. The slight amount of fear she had shown disappeared again as she straitened proudly. "I'd rather get paid for what I do than have it taken anyway." She informed him. "Anyone who was a prisoner here is free to go." Joker told the other women who all scurried away happily. Joker turned back to the blonde. "Where is the girl that this belongs to?" He asked angrily. "Sweetie, I wouldn't know. I didn't take it from her, it was given to me." She informed him. "By who? Alexander?" He asked now more furious than he had been. She looked surprised that he knew her master's name, she nodded.

He growled. The bastard was screwing with him. Taunting him. He knew he would find the girls and notice the bracelet. That's why they had been in rooms so close to the main entrance.

"He gave me this too. I almost didn't take it. It's a bit to crude for me." She told him as she pulled at a cord around her neck, revealing the custom necklace made from a bullet that he had dug out of Ann's arm. His hand grasped the heavy metal and with a swift yank he broke the cord around her neck.

"Hold on to her." Joker told the man that had been guarding the girls. "She may come in useful."

He walked away as he placed the two pieces of jewelry in his pocket. He then began helping his men trying to bust down the door.

~Ann's POV~

Ann and Ashley had traversed two floors now and so far no one had noticed them. By now the whole building was in chaos. There were people running wildly about, going all directions hoping to escape. The more calm people were the one's laying down fire on any opposition they encountered. This was obviously where the commotion and gunfire sounds were coming from. That meant that this was probably the ground level floor.

She could see that the majority of armed men were waiting patiently in the large room while everyone else was scattering behind them. Across the room from Ann and Ashley there was a staircase that led to a large open balcony that overlooked the rest of the room. There was a door near the middle of the balcony that had been piled with all the furniture in the room. A loud thumping noise could be heard over and over from the other side as someone tried to break the door open. Farther along the balcony there was another door that had been left wide open. Ann could see another set of stairs.

She frowned slightly. Surely someone other than her had noticed the flaw in this. By knowledge of basic architecture Ann knew that the walls of the stairway hall would most likely be thinner than the regular walls of the house. Outside walls were always the thickest with all the reinforcements and insulation. The inside walls were typically two thin sheets of sheetrock on either side of wood framework. Most of the time there would be a light insulation between the sheetrock. On the wall of the staircase, however, the walls would most definitely be thinner.

After explaining this to Ashley they began trying to figure out how to get up there. Ann could see a second door at the top of the closed in staircase. The plan was to get to the staircase and close the doors. Then Ann planned to kick at the wall until there was a hole big enough to crawl through. And if it didn't work out like she planned they could always continue up to the next floor to look for another way out. So far everything other than the basements looked expensive and lavish. Surely there would be some sort of trellis on the outside that they could climb down.

"Hey! You! Your that girl." One of the armed men stated walking towards them. He must have noticed them standing in the back corner of the room. Ashley spoke up before Ann had time to think of a way out of it. "Alexander told me that if anything like this should happen that we should head to the upper levels." Ashley told him in a cocky voice. At seeing Ashley's direction, Ann dropped her make shift knife behind her, hoping to pick it up again later. "I don't know you, but 'she' is a prisoner." The man said pointing at Ann. "Well of course she is." Ashley said as she put her hands on her hips. "I'm supposed to escort her to a higher level away from the fighting so that she doesn't have a chance to escape." Ashley informed him as she jerked on the chain connecting Ann's manacles so that she was jerked forward.

The man looked a bit skeptical. "I don't remember seeing you around here." The man told him. "Well I'm not surprised. I'm usually in the basements. I make sure that the prisoners are fed and on occasion I help with the more 'morbid' tasks. My name's Alice." Ashley told him. At the mention of 'morbid details' the man seemed to believe her. "Well where'd you get those bruises?" The man asked her. All in all she didn't look nearly as beat up as Ann did. "This bitch doesn't like doing what she's told. Don't worry, she paid for it." Ashley informed him. Ann sneered. She didn't like being forced into a submissive position, even if it was faked.

"So are you going to get me to the higher levels or not?" Ashley asked the man in a commanding voice. "Oh, of course. Follow me." He told her then walked over to a group of men who were waiting anxiously. "Help Alice get the prisoner to the higher levels. Now, move!" The man ordered the small group of five. At that Ashley and Ann were surrounded by the five men. The leader grabbed Ann's chain and dragged her forward towards the stairs.

Once on the stairs she could hear more of what was going on behind the door. By now the door had cracked open a bit and she could faintly see people ramming at the door. She could also hear a faintly familiar person yelling at them to go faster.

"Jak?" She said almost not believing it. "Ann?" She heard him yell from the other side. "Jak!" She screamed as she was both pushed and pulled past the door. She fought against them but they ultimately won. Ashley stayed in control, despite their close call to freedom as she led the group up the enclosed stairway. Ann however wasn't acting so rationally. She kicked wildly at the wall of the stairway as they pushed her along. She managed to kick a hole the size of her foot before they got sick of messing with her and simply picked her up by the armpits and carried her the rest of the way up.

Once at the next floor Ann had calmed down a bit. "Okay, thanks guys. I can take it from here." Ashley told them with a wink. "No ma'am. Were going to escort you all the way." The guy in charge told her. "She's acting way too violent for you to handle alone." He informed her. Ann fumed. She was dying to teach this guy a lesson.

Great, looks like were finding a different way.

~Joker's POV~

He had abandoned breaking down the door once he had heard her screaming and kicking behind the wall on the far side of the room. When a small hole appeared he began tearing at the wall to get through. Jacob was immediately by his side helping.

~Ann's POV~

She was being pushed roughly down the hallway towards what she assumed to be another staircase. She was so tired. She wanted to collapse. She even thought about it. That is, until she heard gunfire from behind them and a man beside her dropped to the floor. Both Ann and Ashley were suddenly pushed inside a door before she could turn around. The leader of the escort group followed them and quickly shut the door. Ann looked around the room. It was a standard looking bedroom. A bed on the left wall, vanity on the right, and a window on the wall across from them. It was obviously a girl's room because of the vanity. That's when Ann spotted her weapon. In front of the small white vanity there was a matching small white chair.

The man turned around just in time to see her pick up the vanity chair. He barely had time to yell a 'look out' warning to Ashley before he was smashed in the face. Immediately Ann followed up her attack with a quick stomp to the man's face, which knocked him unconscious.

"Awe, too bad. I kinda liked him." Ashley commented. Ann rolled her eyes. "Well you can forget about it. I don't think he'll be too happy when he wakes up." Ann told her. Gun fire was still loud from the other side of the door. Going to the window she glanced down. They were on the third floor. Ann groaned. She had been assuming that they were on ground level, but the windowless rooms she had been in had deceived her. In a normal situation she would have jumped out the window to roll safely on the ground, with maybe some scrapes and bruises, or possibly a broken bone. Although a broken bone wouldn't be pleasant, she would gladly trade it for her freedom. But this wasn't possible here. Not only did she have Ashley to think of, who would probably refuse to jump, but she was also bound and beaten up pretty badly. No, the window was not an option.

Turning back to the door she cracked it open. The group that had escorted them was at the corner of the hall to their left. Every so often one of them would fire around the corner and the gun shots would then be returned by Joker and his men.

Feeling that they were significantly occupied, Ann and Ashley slipped out of the room and began to make their way down the hall. "Hey, wait a minute!" One of the men yelled at them as he caught up to them. Where are you going?" He asked Ashley. "I have to get her away from her friends. She could escape." Ashley explained. "All the more reason to stay with us! Where is the captain?" He yelled as he grabbed Ann by the chain between her wrists. Ann promptly kicked him hard in the knee cap and he shouted in pain. "Run Ash!" Ann yelled at the blonde when the man held onto her tighter and another came to assist him.

The blonde hesitated at first but when a third man joined the two already struggling with Ann she bolted. Ann looked up just in time to see her run around the corner.

"The captain's unconscious." One man declared. "We'll take her to the boss. She'd be safest there." Another mumbled. Ann was still fighting them but in her weakened state there wasn't much she could do. One man stayed behind to lay down fire and keep Joker from following as the others dragged her away still kicking and screaming.

After traversing across that floor of the building and going up another set of stairs Ann was beginning to get annoyed by the manhandling. She had already gotten slapped for biting a chunk out of one guys shoulder. Not to mention what happened when she kicked one in the gonads.

After entering another hallway the lights suddenly flickered out and it was dark. There was a loud thump behind them. She whirled around, as did the others. Silence.

"Jimmy?" One of the men called after a few moments. Jimmy didn't answer. Ann could hear her 'escorts' slowly backing down the hallway. She decided she would follow suit. Whatever or whoever took Jimmy was quiet. Very quiet. She hadn't heard a thing except the initial 'thump'. No breathing, no footsteps, nothing. And it was nearly impossible to see anything in the dark hallway. After a few moments of silence Ann suddenly realized that this could be the perfect chance to get away. "He probably just got lost." A man to her left stated. "Yeah, it was nothing." Another declared.

There was suddenly a muffled cry to her right then another thump noise. Backing away suddenly she nearly ran into the wall. "Wha- what was that?" The man to her left said, clearly afraid. "That was the sound of someone strangling your friend." Ann told him quietly as she backed farther down the hall. She could hear the other three men doing the same. A short yell of surprise came from in front of her. It was followed by pitiful begging from the man who had just been attacked. The other two men near her jumped forward to help their friend. Ann, however, promptly took off in the opposite direction.

"Hey, get back here- oof-" She heard behind her. It was still very dark in the hallway. But she remembered that it went on for awhile before turning to the right, so she continued at her speed, but she let the tips of her fingers trail against the wall to her right. That way she would have time to slow down when the turn came.

She made the turn no problem. She could still hear men screaming behind her as she continued down the dark hallway. Suddenly she crashed into someone and they both fell to the floor. "Owe." She heard beside her. "Ash?" Ann whispered. "Yeah. Damn you hit me hard. Were you running?" She asked. "We have to get outta the dark. Come on." Ann told her as she stood. She heard Ashley stand beside her. "Wait, why are you going this way? That just leads up more stairs. Last I checked we needed outta here." Ashley complained. "You don't wanna go back that way." Ann told her.

She was beginning to lose what little strength she had left, and she was definitely beginning to hate the cuffs around her wrists. She noticed that she seemed to have more strength when she was coursing with adrenaline. At the moment she felt exhausted, like she hadn't slept in days. But she had such energy when she had run in the halls, and when she had caught a glimpse of Joker. She continued on, using the wall to help steady herself as she silently wondered how she could go about tapping into that reserve of energy.

"Aren't there any windows in the God forsaken place?" Ann mumbled to herself when she tripped over an unknown object. "I've only seen the one in the bedroom." Ashley replied quietly. That's when Ann spotted a beam of light coming from up ahead. Ashley had seen it too and they both made their way eagerly towards it.

Ann found that it was the staircase that Ashley had mentioned. She could barely but once her eyes adjusted to the light she made her way towards the door at the top, seeing no other opinion. She certainly wasn't going to sit in a corner somewhere and wait for the lights to come back on.

Once at the top of the stairs they found themselves in a rather large room that was literally nothing but windows, aside from one rather large wall across from them. Ann nearly seethed at the irony.

This is why there were no damn windows. There all the bloody hell up here.

It's a bit tacky.

It was beginning to seem that they only way out of there would be to descend back down. But something inside Ann didn't want to go about in the dark a second time. Especially after their 'ex- escorts' run in with what was in it.

It seemed as though she wouldn't be given a choice. Across the room a door opened and Ann could hear a man say a 'get em' as a pair of mean looking Rottweiler's came barreling in their direction. Ann promptly shoved Ashley back through the door they had come through before leaping behind it herself and slamming it shut. A moment later she heard scratching and pounding from the other side.

"Jesus. What an ass." Ashley commented. "Let's move. We need to get as far away from those dogs as possible before their owner opens that damn door." Ann told her. With that they headed back down the stair case. Instead of going back the way they had come, though, they decided to go the other way. It was mostly out of Ann's insistence, but at least it would be something different. After awhile of wandering and turning blindly they came upon another stairway. Making their way to it Ann discovered it was the staircase that led down to the level below them.

Frowning, Ann wondered what had happened to Joker. She knew that he had been following her. It made her question if she should continue downward and look for an exit or stay in the area in case he was on the same level as her. Ultimately they decided to continue downward, because of the dogs. Ann knew that if the dogs managed to get loose in this place it would be a nightmare. Never mind fighting in the dark. Being attacked by dogs in the light of day was a daunting enough idea. Let alone in the pitch black halls.

Ann had been hoping that the higher level had been the only one to lose power. She was disappointed upon leaving the fourth floor and returning to the third. It was just as black as before. Annoyed, she made sure to close the door to the stairway, hoping it might help keep the dogs contained.

She could hear the distant sound of gunfire that got louder the farther they went. At this point she just wanted to find someone, ANYONE, in the darkness that surrounded them. It wasn't long before she had her wish. Once they finally found the stairs that led downwards the gunfire was prominent. Ann noticed light at the bottom of the stairs behind the closed door. For a moment Ann almost went to the light instead of through the hole in the wall of the stair way.

Ultimately her common sense won over her and, despite Ashley's insistence on finding Devon, they went through the hole. Once through to the other side Ann could see that Joker's men had abandoned the large statue that they had been using to destroy the large but solid door. Around the corner Ann could see the remains of what used to be an outer wall made of thick cement. The wall had been blasted away with what was most likely Joker's handy work.

Excited for the first time in ages, Ann ran towards the opening and Ashley followed. After scrambling over the debris of what used to be the wall, Ann and her blonde friend were outside.

They stood in a large courtyard that was surrounded by the huge building on three sides. Annoyed by this, she figured that on the other side of the building the ground around it must have been lower. She had seen similar annoyances in hospitals before. Ann noted that the building wrapped around the court yard. On the fourth side was a wall made of what appeared to be stone that had wrought iron fencing on top of it. Instead of a gate a hole had been blasted into the side of it as well.

A screech from Ashley caused Ann to whirl around. Ashley was standing in the hole in the wall of the building. And behind her, holding a knife to her throat was the blonde man. Behind him stood a very angry looking Alexander.

Ann's anger spiked to a dangerous level. "You spineless, gutless, self obsessed, ugly, toad! I'm going to cut off your fucking head and use your skull as a friggin beer mug!" She yelled angrily.

"Such a mouth on you, my dear." Alexander said smoothly as he stepped forward. Ann was so angry that she hadn't noticed the rapier hanging at his side until he had drawn the deadly weapon. A slight flash of fear shot through her for the first time. She knew absolutely nothing about fighting an English sword style. If he was any good with the weapon, which he most surely was, then she was at a serious disadvantage on multiple levels.

"I'm tired of waiting for my associates to break you. I'll do it myself." He told her as he discarded his over coat and strode her way. Ann did the only thing she knew to do. She sank into a fighting stance.

Of course she had seen the use of rapiers in movies, such as The Three Musketeers. But fighting a man wielding one, when you yourself had no such weapon, was a bit daunting. But she was determined.

Akira was nudging her, wanting control. Insisting upon it. Ann was having a hard enough time dealing with her, let alone dealing with him.

This is my fight!

I disagree. He kidnap's me and Ash and you say it's your fight? Hardly.

"Your going to learn your place, little fox." He told her as he neared fighting distance. He swiped at her head with his sword. He was fast. Ann barely had time to dodge his attack. She needed to find a weapon. A stick, a chair, a rock, anything. Anything would help.

He pressed his attack, not giving her room to breath as he swiped at her again and again.

Ashley watched in horror as he managed to cut her across the arm with the tip of his blade. His form was speechless and impeccably perfect. It looked like he had been doing it for years. Ashley was reminded of a character of a popular game called Soul Caliber named Raphael. He had that deathly accuracy that Ashley had only ever heard of. And she was very worried for her friend. Suddenly she was stricken with an idea. It couldn't hurt.

"Jak! Help! Help, Jak!" Ashley suddenly screamed over and over as loud as she could. The blond man pressed the knife to her throat, warning her to remain silent. But she still continued, even as a small line of blood ran down her neck.

Ashley's sudden out burst had surprised both Ann and her opponent. Ann took the opportunity it gave her and struck Alexander hard in the side of his head with her heel. The kick cost her as her exhausted body protested and she lost her balance. Falling to the ground she noted that her opponent had fallen to the ground as well. But he was far from unconscious. He was already struggling to his feet. Ann forced herself to stand but she was too late. She received a hit to the face with the handle of his sword and she fell back to the ground.

You can not win with this man! Let me fight!

You will lose control. I can do just as much as you can.

I have fought this style before!

Confusion shot through her.

What?

A kick to her side sent her reeling across the pavement and into the base of a stone sculpture. She used the statue to pull herself to her feet. Alexander was a distance away, waiting for her.

"Show me your beast. Unleash your anger!" He yelled as he advanced on her again. Ann briefly noticed that Ashley's screaming had stopped as she ducked under a blow from his sword and she rolled away from him.

Suddenly Ann vaguely saw an object flying strait for her from the corner of her vision. Reacting quickly she caught the object. At that point she was certain she had gone mad. In her fist she held her katana. Looking to her right she noted that Ashley was being used as a human shield as the blonde was being back up by none other than the Batman. Ashley's insistent calling must have drawn him to their location.

"Sonofabitch." Ann mumbled as she stood and drew her blade reverently and tossed the scabbard to the side.

"Now we shall see who will be breaking who." Ann told Alexander, who looked as stoic as ever. He was once again waiting a distance away with his rapier relaxed at his side. A stance that looked rather intimidating by itself.

Even with your katana, you won't be able to beat him. You are inexperienced and tired.

Well then I can sure as hell hurt the bastard.

Ann circled the man, hoping to put him on edge. Alexander refused to even move, even when she crossed behind him. But she could see his eyes following her movement. Ann knew better than to attack him when she was behind him. He was waiting for her to strike first. Because his blade was lighter he would be faster. If she attacked he could block then strike before she had a chance to back away.

Finally he tired of waiting for her and leapt in a quick and surprising attack. Ann barely managed to block. This is when she realized just how much faster he was. She was pretty much just entertaining him at this point. She would have a chance if she was in better shape physically. But no, her hands were bound, she was surely dehydrated, her ribs were broken, she had not eaten, she was barefoot, and she was exhausted.

Trying to focus she swiped sideways in an attempt to take off his head. Sparks flew as her katana struck his rapier as he blocked her attack. That made her realize that even though he was faster, her katana's blade was thicker and stronger. His rapier focused on speed and flexibility. If she could connect enough solid hits she may be able to break it. Reminding herself to clear her mind she focused on keeping him on the defensive and holding her offense.

He blocked each of her strikes effortlessly forcing her to the point of exhaustion. But he was beginning to tire as well. She was beginning to feel like she was getting nowhere. He had a very solid defense. But finally she managed to break through it in a lunge. The tip of her blade scratched his side drawing a slight bit of blood before he swiped her sword away from him. He retreated a few paces and felt of the area with his hand. With a frown he drew a foot long dagger with a matching hand guard from his belt with his free hand.

What the-

This is the true technique. You were struggling with the one sword. You can't beat two!

Ann ignored Akira's insistent protests and took up a defensive stance. She resolved to question Akira in more depth later. She was trying to imagine how Alexander would implement the dagger into his swordplay.

She soon found out as he lunged at her in a flurry of motion. It was all she could do to block and back up. He was using some type of circular pattern. It looked almost like a very deadly dance. Suddenly her back hit a wall. Her yes went wide as her opponent lunged. She didn't have time to block.

Pain radiated from her left shoulder and she threw her head back in a scream. Looking to the source of her pain she saw that his sword had gone through her shoulder and was pinning her to the wall.

Time seemed to stand still, as did Batman, Ashley, and the blonde man as they all looked to her. She did the only thing she could do. She raised her right arm in an attempt to swing her sword at him. He scoffed at her and knocked her arm away and her sword skidded across the ground several yards.

Batman immediately started their way but was stopped when Alexander held his dagger to her throat. She grasped at the sword protruding from her shoulder, trying to pull it free. But he had too much pressure on the blade. The point was actually stuck in the brick wall behind her.

Alexander glanced back at Ann. "Quite an interesting set of friends you have." He told her. Seething she spat at his face. He sighed then back handed her. Batman made a move as if to come to her rescue. But he stopped when Alexander pressed the blade against her throat again pointedly. He then looked back to Batman.

"I've heard quite a lot about 'you'. The mysterious Dark Knight who protects this city. What a character you are." He looked back at Ann. "It seems you have a way of drawing interesting people to you, my dear." He commented. "Fuck you." She told him.

He twisted the sword in her shoulder causing her to clench her teeth in agony.

"Father!" A loud and angry voice yelled. The sword stopped twisting in her shoulder and she managed to look to the source of the voice. In the rubble of the destroyed wall stood a very menacing and angry Joker.

Alexander yanked the sword from her shoulder and she collapsed in a heap against the wall. Joker stalked towards Alexander. Ann, even in her state of agony, could feel the anger radiating off him. He paused as he passed the hostage scene between the blonde man and Ashley. Looking at the man holding Ashley captive he held his gaze for a moment. "You have three seconds to let-her-go."

The blonde man had a confused but slightly scared look on his face at this point. Ann mentally counted to three.

All she saw was a flash of movement as Joker flung out his arm. A small dagger suddenly appeared in the blonde man's forehead.

Ashley shrieked as the man fell back dead and she scrambled away to stand safely behind Batman who was scowling in irritation.

Joker ignored the scowl and continued towards Alexander who had backed up a decent distance.

"Get her outta here." Joker told Batman as he walked to stand over Ann's discarded sword. He bent down and picked it up before straitening and walking forwards again. Alexander gradually backed away from Ann as he approached.

Ann was leaning against the wall holding her wounded shoulder. She was in a near trance like state as she watched him walk towards her. She frowned as he passed her, giving her a simple glance as he walked on by.

Why didn't he stop?

She could tell he was angry. She could see it in the tense muscles of his shoulders. In his taunt back. He was trying to hold back his rage.

Suddenly she was jerked out of her trance as someone picked her up, intent on taking her away. As soon as they moved her she began thrashing and kicking. The sounds of steel clashing could be heard in the background.

I don't want to go! I want to stay!

"I want to stay!"

"What's wrong with her? Ann?" Ashley's voice sounded worried. "I don't know."

"Let me go!"

Sleep.

"What? No!"

There's nothing more you can do. Now 'Sleep'.

Hey body suddenly went stiff and her consciousness faded.

So. Lots of stuff happened here. I know that in a normal situation Ann would have been able to at least put up a fight to Alexander. But we have to remember that she's not in exactly peak condition. Also her hands were still bound by that chain. Also I did this for a reason.

With that said, I have 17 days before I leave for basic. (and my 22nd birthday) Now that this chapter is outta the way maybe I can write the last ones a lot faster. Hopefully I'll get em done before I leave.

Thank you Gaara-frenzy for your comments. Lol I know what you mean about the Bruce vs Joker thing. I'm finding it a bit difficult these last few chapters because I'm trying to stay true to the 'Joker's' fanfic but also trying to make the ending so that I can make two different sequels, one for each of them. It's quite bothersome. I hope however it winds up, that you'll still enjoy the story. And read the sequels. Lol.