CHAPTER SIX | GOTHAM
Damion Wayne sat at the Bat computer with his hand in his chin frustrated.
Dick Greyson stood beside him. "Theres gotta be something we haven't thought of to bring him out of this."
"I hate magic." He grumbled.
"Father says magic s just a form of science we haven't fully understood."
"That may be true, that doesn't mean I have to like it." Dick said. "Jason and Tim are on patrol, they should have checked in by now."
"Todd…Drake…" Damion said with authority. "Report."
"Heh. Hey Dick why'd you put the kid in charge of comms?"
"I didn't." Dick said rueful. "Red Robin - What your status?"
"Towns quiet." Said Tim from the roof of the Gotham Sun Newspaper building. "Its eerie. Its never this quiet."
"Whenever its this quiet that means a powder keg is going to explode. I'm going to do a sweep if all the rat holes just in case." Said Jason Todd also known as the Red Hood. "… Hows Bruce?"
"Hes sleeping upstairs. I thought he might have some kind of virus or contagion so I thought the best thing to do was keep him isolated from the league. He seems to have come out of it a bit, but Alfred gave him the strongest sedative we have to be safe." Dick said with seriousness.
"Any sign of Kent?"
"No – so far so good. I think we dodged that particular green bullet."
"Have you heard from Constantine or Zee?"
"No. But hes at the Library in West Oregon." Damion said confidently.
"What?! I thought he was in NY."
"Technically its both… don't ask…"
"We'll check back within the hour if we find something."
"Uh… Grayson?" Damion said pointing at the screen. "My tracker went dark. I think he made me."
"There are people who are smarter than you in this world ya know."
Damion crinkled his nose. "I concede that. But not many."
On the other side of Gotham stood a very tall poorly fed figure, with a tall squared off hat, bandages wrapped wrongly around his withered face, the top of which used to be a man, but the bottom had decayed into a loathsome skeletal jaw. His eyes glowed yellow and his deep blue tunic whipped in the high wind. His arms cracked and crinkled as he jauntily walked, bones moving in incorrect ways giving him a broken and staggered look. A large spiky mace was slung over his back and a bright amulet glowed bright green in the darkness. His jaunty broken gait made its way up the front steps to Arkham Asylum for the criminally insane. The guards took one look at him and pulled out their pistols, of which bullets bounced off him easily. He waived his hand lazily and the guards rounded on each other.
He slithered up behind one of them. "Wasn't he eyeing your wife at that diner party last week?" His whisper was cold, and hallow.
The guard began to growl like an animal and leapt onto his colleague pounding him as hard as he could.
"My wife! Shes My wife!" he kept yelling.
"You [RACIAL SLUR] I'll fucking kill you!"
Arkham was renowned to be the most horrible place to be ever sent to. The walls were caked with years of neglect. Stains of past escapes and unspeakable horrors have taken place here. It only housed the absolute worst sorts of monsters in existence in the most crime riddled city in America. Squalid cells, where rats chew on your ears while you sleep, The freezing cold cells, the miserable food and the regular beatings were no different than any other prison, save for screams of the insane that echo from the walls. But that wasn't why every guard, inmate and employee dreaded coming here. No. It was the laughter.
Incessant unyielding cruel laughter, reverberating from every wall. Echoing down every corridor. It never stopped. Insane cackling laughter for hours and hours. The only time it was quiet in Arkham was when he was either eating or unconscious.
For deep in the bowels of this rancid festering monument of the prison system was a hallway. A hallway guarded by ten different men in three shifts. Three gates of 24 inch bullet proof glass shielding, and 4 foot thick Kevlar plated walls stood a door. A 10 inch thick solid osmium Metal door. In this door was a tiny hatch. And behind this hatch was the most deviant horrible evil monster Gotham city had ever had the misfortune of birthing.
There was no light down here. Thirty different cameras covered every square inch. And not a single one of them would pick up an invisible force of madness, causing the guards to go insane and start trying to kill each other. Blood splattered the walls as the guards took to their weapons that were meant for the evil at the end of the corridor.
His wide grin giggled in the darkness. An emaciated finger lifted the hatch to find the Joker, hanging bound in chains on the wall, his mouth gaged and his eyes glinting in the darkness. And still he laughed.
"Oh the fun we are going to have" Said the voice on the other side of the door. It was yawning chasm of deep dark croaking madness of a voice and the Joker was pleased.
"Its Arkham." Said Batman from behind both boys. He was suited up and determined.
"You are supposed to be resting." Dick said "Bruce…" He began.
"Im alright." Bruce said deep growl. "It wasn't real what I experienced. It was all in my head. I know that now." He said tightening his gloves. He only did that when he was spoiling for a fight.
"Father… Do... do you remember what happened?"
"Yes. And I understand that I … went too far." He said grimly. "That is not going to happen again."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Its some kind of malediction."
"That didn't answer my question Bruce."
"First of all, I know I was under some kind of strange spell now. Second, despite our differences, I know John Constantine is a good man. He is many things but not a molester of children. And Third. Damion would have been able to take him down easily had something inappropriate had really happened."
Dick took his hand off Bruce. "Okay hes fine."
The Arkham alarm buzzed all over the cave and both Damion and Dick sprang into action. In moment both were suited up and ready to go. Instinctually they looked to him for orders. Batman put his hand to his comm. "Everyone listen up. Were on a omega thaumaturgy level alert. Do not engage. Were not sure how its spread." He said definitely.
"We got a fire alert on Frazer Ave." Said Batgirl across town sitting on one of the Gargoyles. "All hells just broken loose!"
"I just got riot in progress on the corner of 4th and 15th." Said Jason. "Oh and another at 23rd and 7th Could be related." He added with a "I told you it was too quiet."
"Theres some kind of spell affecting peoples judgement. So be alert. Assume protocols the same you would for Scarecrow or Ivy."
"Copy! Don't trust anything you can see or hear. Nothing is real!" Said Tim from his now zooming Motorbike.
"The clown is our clear and present." Damion said.
"Agreed. Everything else is just a distraction" Dick added. "But we should warn GCPD what they're up against."
"Tranq darts and knock out gas until we know what were up against."
Everyone nodded.
