Gotham City, 1979

One day after the events of the Harvey Dent's attack on Sal Maroni's casino, Harvey was murdered by someone on the cell of the prision. People now were praising Batman as a hero of the city and not a vigilant anymore, but the mafia still was very strong on there.

The cops found Harvey's corpse there and started to investigate. He had three bullets on his body, two on his chest and another one on his belly.

During the authopsis the peridical doctor started to said that and confirmed his death and Jim Gordon commented:

"But that's impossible, who could shot Harvey on the prision? How even could someone get there?"

"Well, we don't know that yet, sir." said one of the cops.

"Should we confirm his death to the press?" asked the peridical doctor.

Then Jim Gordon took off his glasses and said:

"Unfortunetely, yes..."

Afterwards it was his funeral, Bruce attended with some knowers of Harvey, his family and Grace's parents. His mother was crying so much and Bruce said:

"My condolences, Mrs. Dent. Harvey was a good man, I believed on him..." he said.

"Thanks, darling." she said touching his face.

Then, his mother gave him a hug and his burrial began.

He was burried along with Grace, on a black portait they have together. Two people, somehow innocent, killed by the mafia by a crime they were victims off.

So Bruce stayed there after the burrial ended and Selina showed up there to put some flowers on her parents and her memorial.

When she saw Bruce, she's seen him crying and said:

"I'm sorry, Bat Boy, for your friend..."

So he said to her:

"That's ok, maybe it's our fault, we couldn't save everyone in the end, I couldn't save my parents, Grace and now Harvey. I'm so sorry..." then he started to cry.

After that, Selina stayed there facing him crying and said:

"Well, maybe this is what it is... The Batman is now a hero of Gotham for what he has done... In the end, even I couldn't save my parents...But I'll revenge them, just like Harvey did to the ones he loved."

"Yeah, but in what costs?" said Bruce crying.

Then Selina started to thinking and remained quite for a while and said:

"Well, maybe I should go... Take care of yourself, bat boy."

So she left the cemitery and Bruce too.

When Bruce arrived on his massion, he couldn't stop thinking about what happened.

He was in the Batcave, during this time, trying to connect the points: "Who could have killed Harvey?"

Undoubtely, Harvey had numberous of enemies, specially from the mafia. Everyone on a faction afilliated with The Maroni Crime Family could have killed him. But, since he killed and broke the head office over the faction, The Maroni Crime Family should've been dissolved this time. Or... Maybe not?

Then he decided to get on there again, to invastigate better the place. When he arrived he started to search for some clues over Maroni desks, but he only found a lot of extracts and bills from people the mafia bribbed and blackmailed during this time on Gotham.

The crime families have been teeming on Gotham for a long time, for more than Bruce could ever imagine. Then he started to search more deeply as he hard the steps of someone approaching.

He hide himself on the closed, and saw it was a man. He heard his steps and decided to check who it was. It was Jim.

Then he got out of the closed and called him:

"Liutenant."

Then Jim turned back scaried with his gun and said:

"Oh my God... It's you!"

Then Batman remained silent to him and he asked:

"Did you find something?"

Then Batman showed him:

"Here I found some extracts about the victims that Sal Maroni and his family having been bribing and blackmailing people during all this time."

And then Jim looked surprised and said:

"Oh my God... Why anyone has ever tell the police about this?"

"That's the question, Liuetenant. Something in this story is really weird... We all know the police here in Gotham ever covered up the crime families, but we don't have any idea if they're not from the crime families..."

"Oh my God, are you saying?"

"Yes, Liutenant. I think the one who killed Harvey came from your police..."

Then Jim started to look surprise and said:

"Oh my God... But what we would do now?"

"We need to investigate better." said Batman. "There's the Arkham Asylium where Harvey stayed for a while, when he was 26, from 1973 'til 1975. He should've someone who didn't like him there... We need to investigate..."

"Yes, you're right..."

"But don't bring the cops..."

"The cops are not with me...The Commissioner closed the case of Harvey..."

After that, Batman and Jim Gordon went to the Arkaham Asylium. Arriving there, they decided to interrogate Dr. Bartholomew, a psychiatrist that used to be the head of the place. Then Bartholomew said:

"Yes, Harvey. I know him, he used to be one of our best patients here... He was really kind, friendly, everyone here loved him, but he also had his ineer demons, just like us..."

"How do you mean with that?" asked Jim.

"His father... He was an abusive man, he used to beat on him and his mother when he was a child. So, after his father went out as a teen and chaged his mother to another girl younger than her, he started to be with his mother, he used to protect her at any costs. But also these things had some consequences, he started to create another personality called 'Big Bad Harv' that was his 'dark side', he came here after getting involved on a fight with some man who crashed his car, he punched him and the man ended on the hospital and Harvey ended here after this fight..." told the doctor. "So we decided with our threatment tried to control 'Big Bad Harv', until we thought this personality of Harvey wasn't there anymore..."

"I'm so sorry to hear that, doctor." said Batman. "Harvey was really a good man, even with all this problems... Maybe he needed more of our help than we could ever imagine... Do you have any idea if had someone who didn't like him here?" asked the Batman.

"No, like I've said, everyone here loved Harvey..."

"And what about friends, did Harvey had anyone who was a close friend to him here?" asked the Batman.

Afther that the doctor starred to Jim and Batman nervous, there was something wrong and Batman noticed it. After some while, the doctor told:

"Yes, he had a friend on here...This friend have the same age as Harvey, is someone who appeared here anonymously. No one knows his name or how he arrived here. Even his filies are empty. He's a maniac psychopath, one of our most prolific patients and used to control Harvey's mind to be 'Big Bad Harv'..."

"But can we visit him?"

Then the doctor said scaried:

"I'm affraid not, he doesn't like to receive people unexpectively, he likes to be prepared to receive visitors if you understands me. Once one of our security guards tried to give him food and he was not wearing his make up, and he bited the hands of the security guard and choked him to the death..."

Then the psychiatric showed them a picture of the hand with no skin and the corpse of the guard.

When Bruce looked that, he was scaried, he was only 18 years old and haven't seen anything so similar to this, even when he was in The League of Shadows.

"Yes, I'm sorry showing this, kid, but like I've said, it's very risky for you two go there..."

"That's ok, doctor. It's really important we go there. We must invastigate what happened to our friend, we need to know if there was someone who could've killed him..."

Then the doctor gave a little laugh nervously.

"No, but I guarantee to you, it was none of our patients..."

"We need to go on there, sir. It's really important from you to cooperate with us... For Harvey..." said Jim Gordon. "We want to visit this 'Harvey's friend'."

Then the doctor said not convinced:

"I don't think it's a good idea... I know what you cops are up to, but we have rules here on Arkham Asylum, we can't divulgate or have visits from anything from our patients, specially from the most prolific ones..."

"Sir, it's really we go there... We also wanna do a search about the mind of this human being who lived with Harvey, if he knows anything or if he can help us..."

Then the doctor started to laugh:

"He's not going to help you, he's a maniac, he once said to a nurse here he's an alien and he was abdused to be here...He's not so much supportive, I'm sorry, son."

"Sir, the question is not that. Harvey is dead, we are here not only for us, but for him also. We want to know who lives there with him, how was his relationship with the other ones here. Who this patient is about or how even his mind works. We need to know who killed him or his death will be in vain." said Batman.

After some while thinking, the doctor came to a conclusion:

"Ok, but you have only five minutes with them. And only one of you two go there..."

When Jim was going to volunteer Batman said:

"I can go."

Then the doctor said:

"Great..." and then called the security to warn the patient to receive a visitor.

In this time, Jim Gordon whispered to Batman:

"Why do you volunteer to it, child? I can go on your place...Is better I'm already used to deal with people like this..."

"I know, Liutenant. But I want to know who was the person that Harvey lived during all this time here. If he knows anything from the police there and that's why I think it should be me, 'cause if a cop enter there, I don't think he'll cooperate..." contested Batman.

Then Jim started to think and after some while he said:

"Yes, maybe you are right..."

After some while the doctor appeared on the room and warn them:

"The patient is already prepared..."

"Ok, I'll go." said Batman.

"Great. Five minutes." commented the doctor.

"Ok." said the Batman.

When he was going to the meeting of the patient he asked the doctor:

"Doctor, by the way, since the patient doesn't have a name or anything how should I call him?"

And then the doctor breathe loudly and answer him:

"You can call him, Joker, kid."

After some while, Batman went in the encounter of this patient.

Joker was a really complexed patient there, he wore a full palled make up on his face, with a red lipstick that goes from the lips to the chicks making a smile, green hair and a purple suit. He was probably some 30s, the same age as Harvey was and was really taller than him like Harvey.

When he saw Batman he started to laugh and asked:

"Well, well, well. To what do I owe the honour of your visit? Ha ha ha"

Then the Batman looked to him seriously to him and presented himself:

"Hello, Joker. I'm Batman, I wanted to know some answers about Harvey. Did you know him?"

"Oh hahahahahha, how's 'Big Bad Harv'? Hahahahah" then he started to laugh harder.

Then the Batman looked seriously to him:

"He's gone..."

Then The Joker looked to him and started to laugh and asked:

"Ok, where's the punchline?"

"There's no punchline..." answer The Batman.

"Well, looks like politics wasn't his strong point in the end huh?! Hahahahha" laughed the Joker.

Then Batman closed his fist, he started to get mad with the Joker, but he decided to control himself. So, the Joker saw it and started to provoke him:

"What's up, Bat, didn't you like the joke about Harv? Hahhahahahaha."

So, the Batman angrily said:

"It's not funny! Harvey is dead! You shouldn't make jokes about it..."

"Ohhh... I'm sorry... Harv was really a nice person, I really loved him, specially when he got mad to the security guards here. Hahhahahahah!"

So, the Batman angrily gave a punch on the grid of the cell and Joker started to laugh even harder about it.;

After that, the Batman intimidated him:

"What do you mean about that?! Do you think it's funny?! I'm gonna tell you what's funny when I go there, your clown!"

"Ohh ohh hahahah. Take it easy, bat boy!" said the Joker intimidated. So, he approached to the grid and said to him "You know, I'm gonna tell you a joke, do you know what a joker does in a pile of cards?"

Then the Batman gave one stepped back from the grid and asked him:

"No, why are you asking it?!"

"Nothing. Hahahahhahah." laughted the Joker.

So, the Batman got scaried and commented to him:

"You're insane...No one couldn't get totally healed from here, specially dealing with someone like you..."

Then the Joker started to laugh and gave a punch on the grid, then he started to threaten the Batman:

"You know... I'm gonna tell you a nice story now, Bat Boy, how I arrived here... Someday I was hunting some bats on a florest and I saw a man approaching to me saying I shouldn't do that, 'cause the bats are propety of the place. I cut his throat and drank his blood with a nice bats' meat..." then he started to sneeze thinking about it.

After that, the Batman got scared to him and stepped back on there and the Joker said ironically:

"Goodbye, Bat Boy. Come back anytime!"

Then he started to laugh harder.

After that, the Batman went to the car where Jim was waiting. He started to think about his parents, Harvey and everyone he couldn't save. Maybe Harvey needed more of his help like he even could imagine and was a victim. A victim of the society and for himself. The Joker really messed with Bruce somehow, his words were really manipulative. He was really an evil person.

So, Jim asked him:

"Hey, so how was with the Joker?!"

After some while, the Batman really connected with the reality and asked to Jim:

"What?"

"Hey, what's wrong with you? I asked you how was with the Joker?"

Then the Batman remained quiet and ommited:

"Nothing...It was ok...He said nothing about it...Maybe it was a waste of time to get on here..."

Then Jim turned around and asked him:

"Humm do you wanna a ride?"

This time, the Batman had already vanished and Jim said:

"Why he needed to do that to me..."

After some time, Bruce arrived on the mansion, there was Alfred waiting for him, then he complimented Alfred and Alfred asked:

"Hello, Mr. Bruce. Where have you been?"

"Well, I was resolving some things on the company..."

"For more than 5 hours?! In a Sunday?!" asked Alfred suspected about Bruce.

"Yes... You know, Alfred, I had a lot of things to deal with... I'm gonna take a bath..."

Then, Bruce left and Alfred started to get suspicious about him.

So, he took a bath. He couldn't stop about Harvey and how he could need his help even more he could ever imagine. If he was in that time on prision. So, he started to think about his mom and dad and what the Joker has mention to him about being a joker in a pile of cards. There was something that wasn't matching in these story.

Then he decided to put a pile of cards on the table and decided to play by himself.

He started to repeat the Joker phrases all the time, until he gets a conclusion what does he meant with that.

"What a joker does in a pile of a cards? Nothing..." then he started to think.

So he picked the cards of the kings and said:

"Maybe that's Sal Maroni and someone who I don't know...Maybe this is the one Selina called that killed her parents..." said him pointing to the cards of the 4 kings.

So he put the cards of the king of aces and the king of clubs one face each other.

After some while thinking he saw a card of the clubs and aces and then thought with himself:

"Well, a king has his own for himself, but what if..." then he had an epiphany.

He started to think about the police close the case of Harvey and then on what the Joker said to him:

"But what if it was nobody, but the own commissioner was the one who killed Harvey? And what if the Joker said that to me he has nothing to deal with it? I think maybe that's it... I need to investigate better..."

On the next day, he woken up earlier to go to work. Took a bath and went down the stairs. Arriving there he saw Alfread reading the local newspaper and drinking a couple of tea then he compliment:

"Goodmorning, Alfred."

"Goodmorning, ." Alfred answered back.

Then Bruce asked:

"So, what's new on the newspaper?"

"Nothing new. Only about Harvey Dent's death and a new candidate of mayor for his political party."

"They have any idea?" asked Bruce.

Then Alfred took his glasses, took a deep breath and answered:

"Not at all, kid. They're trying to ascertain about it."

So, Alfred looked Bruce and asked:

"Why do you ask about it?"

Then Bruce looked nervously to Alfred and answered:

"Nothing, Alfred. Thanks, I gotta work."

So, Bruce had his breakfast and left the table and went to work.

It was nothing new happened in that Monday of work. The secretary only said that the Enterprises made an increase on the last month of 1.5% and that's it.

After some while, he left the office giving an excuse he forgot something on his mansion.

Then, he hiden himself in an alley near to the Wayne Enterprises and changed his costume to Batman.

He called his Batmobile and went there to the police department.

When he went there, he saw the commissioner Gillian Loeb leaving the office.

After that, he decided to follow him.

Firstly he saw him entering in the police's car trying not to be noticed by anybody.

After all, he started to drive himself until an alley and stopped there.

Some while, he got out the car and entered on the alley.

Suddenly, Batman got out of the car too and followed him until the alley where he hiden himself.

He saw three man appearing there wearing hats and suits.

So, Loeb asked to one of the man:

"Ok, I've already done what you wanted where's my money now?!"

"Well, do you think it's so easy, Mr. Loeb huh?!"

Then, Mr. Loeb said to him scaried:

"What do you want for me now?! I already made what your boss wanted...Now I want my money!"

So, one of the henchment grabed Gillian Loeb on his shirt and then showed him a knife:

"Don't disrespect our boss like this...He knows you already made what he wanted or did you forget we know everything your past and we can exposed it to the press, commissioner?!"

So, the Comissioneer got a little scaried and said:

"Wait, take it easy, take it easy... Yes, I know that your boss knows about my past, but that doesn't justified about my money, I already killed a man, Harvey Dent, at the behest of your boss...Now I want my money!"

Then one of the other henchment approach to him and said:

"Sure, you have Comissioneer, now enjoy the last of your day on the police station..."

Afterwards, Batman got out of the place.

The Liutenant James Gordon left the police station during the dusk and went his house to rest, it was another rough day on the office, so he was very tired.

When he arrived he found Batman there waiting from him, then he asked:

"What do you want here?"

"I think I found who was the main responsible for Harvey's death..."

Then he showed to the Liutenant a recorded tape with the conversation of the commissioner with the mafia's henchment.

Afterwards, they decided to make a plan to catch Gillian Loeb.

In the next day, Bruce waken up earlier than the normal and saw Alfred downstairs then Alfred said to him:

"Good morning, Mr. Bruce, what a surprise to see you waken up earlier..."

"Good morning, Alfred, I need to revolve some things on the Enterprise today..."

"Is everything ok, kid?" asked Alfred suspected.

"Yes, it's. Thanks, Alfred."

So, he left and Alfred started to get concerned about it.

Meanwhile in the police station, the Comissioneer was sitting on his desk when Jim Gordon arrived on there.

"What do you want?!" asked the commissioner in a rude way.

"Comissioneer, I think you should come with me, there's some case I think you need to see."

"Not now, called one of the other men to see it, I'm finishing my coffee!"

"Sir, I think it's really important you to come..."

"What have I said to you, Gordon?! Not now! Do you think you can disobey me?!"

Then he saw on the TV, there it was his face there with a recorded tape confessing the killing off Harvey Dent.

"What have you done?!" asked the Comissioneer.

Then it appeared an FBI agent and said:

"Sir, you are under arrest."

Then he started to laugh and said:

"What the hell is this?! A joke?! Do you think you can defeat me, Gordon?! I'm gonna destroy your career."

After that, the comissioneer's freaken out and destroyed everything on the desk and was taken by the FBI agent together with another cops.

In this time he started to get interrogated about Harvey Dent and said:

"What the hell I'm doing here?! I don't have any idea what happened to this criminal...It's not my business..."

Then the FBI agent started to get mad with him:

"Stop lying, commissioner. We saw your confession!"

"But that's ridiculous, tell'em Gordon..." said the comissioneer laughing nervously.

After that, the Batman appeared and then the Comissioneer said:

"Oh so you're now working with that criminal, Gordon?! You'll pay for this! I'm gonna destroy your career!"

So the Batman approached to the Commissioner and said:

"Gordon has nothing to do with that, Commissioner. Now let's gonna with the main point. Who do you work with?! Who sent you to kill, Harvey?!"

Then, the Batman beaten on the table, threatening the Commissioner to talk and he said:

"I'm never gonna tell you, vigilant!"

So, the Commissioner spat in the Batman and then he started to beaten on the Commissioner a number of times.

Gordon tried to prevent that the Batman made some craziness, like killing the Comissioneer, but Gordon was prevented by the FBI agent for doing that.

"Now you're gonna tell me or not?!" asked the Batman angrily.

"Never!" said the Comissioneer gushing blood from his mouth.

Then he started to beat more and more on the Commissioner and then he started to laugh and said:

"You're so ridiculous, vigilant!"

"It's better you start to say or things will get ugly..."

Then when Batman was approaching to him, he confessed:

"Ok, ok. I said to you. It's Rupert Thorne. Satisfied?! I worked for years with him and Maroni! They're one of the most powerful crime families on Gotham City! Now, please don't tell'em or came to them, 'cause I'm gonna get killed for it..."

After that, the Commissioner started to get scaried and the Batman looking in a dispised way for him:

"You know something, you're disgusting, Commissioner..."

Then he started to laugh and said:

"You're all dead! Rupert Thorne will kill all of you for this!"

So, the Batman left the room.

After some while, he started to discuss with the Liutenant and the FBI agent about it and then heard some noises caming from the questioning.

When he arrived he saw the corpse of the Commissioner hanged by his own tie in the questioning room.