The area had checked out clean, but Batman was still on guard, straining to catch every nuance of his surroundings.
It was 9:37, and 'Nasty' Pete Thomson had been down there for over two hours. While Batman was pressed for time, he wasn't going to rush into anything.
It was just as Nasty looked about to leave that the Dark Knight made his move.
"Going somewhere, Nasty?" Batman placed a hand on Nasty's shoulder, coming up behind him.
Nasty practically jumped out of his shorts, and from the smell of things he'd have to change them pretty soon.
"I hear you have some information for me." It was not a question.
"Y—yeah." Nasty stammered. "Ab—about c—clown gir—I mean Harley Quinn, da Jo—Joker's squeeze. I'z—I'z knows where she is."
Batman merely stared. Feeling even more unnerved, Nasty hurried on.
"Abandoned meat p—packing plant on the south side. Grant Way, c—can't miss it." Looking away, he screwed up his courage to ask the question that'd been on his mind.
"So, now's you know where she is, you's gonna to let up offa us, right?" But when he looked back up for an answer, no one was there.
***
It was cold, the wind was starting to kick up, and the weather report said there was a 70% chance for rain. Swell, Robin thought to himself. Not that he'd complain - it came with the territory. Not every costumed crime fighter was impervious to the elements or could will up a handy overcoat.
Tim Drake, or rather Robin: The Boy Wonder as he was more commonly known (a moniker he had inherited from the original Robin, who now enjoyed a successful career as the adult vigilante known as 'Nightwing'), knew that while 'the game' was full of action and adventure, it was also tempered with waiting and studying. He was more serious about it than his peers, who saw it as just one big neverending adventure. To him it was a duty, and like any duty it took hard work. You don't take down a super villain every day. Some days you have to sit around doing nothing but waiting. Like today.
He'd been watching Arkham for days now, without so much as a peep from it. He'd scrutinized the face of every person to have gone in or out, alert for any escapes. So far, nothing. He wasn't exactly sure what he was looking for, but he supposed time would tell.
***
Now that he had an address, Batman was in a race against time. Literally. There was no telling how far along they were with building the machine. The only condolence he had was that it hadn't been used yet as far as he could tell. He'd gone so far as to call in a favor from Superman to check with the Linear Men to see if the timeline had been tampered with. The report back had been negative.
He was reviewing the consequences of the situation when his com beeped.
"Batman," he answered.
"It's Robin," The Boy Wonder's voice sounded startled. "Something's just gone down at Arkham," In the background, Batman could hear the disorganized yelling of the staff. It sounded like total bedlam.
"It's the Joker, he just disappeared! The guards say one minute he was there, the next poof, he was gone."
Batman was immediately galvanized into action.
"Get to Grant Way as fast as you can, the old meat packing plant. I'll meet you there. Batman out."
Cutting off the communiqué, Batman kicked in the Batmoblie's afterburner, sending the vehicle rocketing down the street trailing a tail of fire.
The Joker had simply vanished from his cell. It didn't take much to figure out how. So the Joker was free, and had possession of a time machine. The situation was not good.
Robin had been at it too long to question Batman's orders. So while not fully understanding, he excused himself from the Asylum's personnel and made his way across Gotham's rooftops towards Grant Way.
***
"Ah, it's good to be back!" The Joker laughed, as he looked about the abandoned plant, not so abandoned anymore.
"It's good ta have ya's back Joker," One of his hired thugs responded, bringing the Joker his customary change of clothes.
"I'm sure it is, my cranially-challenged cohort. I'm sure it is." He was all smiles, still feeling the buzz of a plan gone right.
"Worked just like you said it would Mista J. Didn't it babies?" Harley Quinn aimed the question at her two pet hyenas, which she fawned over like children.
Yes, it had been a clever plan of his to appropriate a time machine, the Clown Prince of Crime reminisced. All the well-dressed villains had one. He'd be the envy of his cellblock. He giggled at the thought.
Having shed his "asylum grays", he finished dressing in his familiar attire.
"What now Joker?" Another of his gang wanted to know. His companions muttered assent.
"What now, my fine felonious friend? Why, we've all the time in the world to figure that out, don't we?" He laughed outrageously at his own pun.
"But what about the Bat?" someone else wanted to know. This time the muttering was more animated, if somewhat subdued by the man before them.
"Batman?" The Joker threw a hand to his head, in obvious pantomime of deep thought.
"Yes, yes… Batman, hmmm…" He drummed his fingers on his head, walking slowly among his cronies, who were feeling more and more uncomfortable.
"I know!" He whirled around, startling not a few of the men. Chuckling to himself, he walked in front of the time machine.
"Why not," and he paused here for dramatic effect, "use the time machine to take care of the Bat?" The room buzzed with the news.
"I need to start an I.Q. requirement around here…" He muttered out the side of his mouth. "Yes," he continued on, "it's high time Batman was taken care of once and for all."
"A month, a year, ten years, it doesn't matter. We could even go back to when the Bat was nothing more than a winged brat. The possibilities are endless. Wealth, power, good laughs, they can all be ours. The world's become our home, and this little gadget is the doorway. What say we start throwing a house warming party?" Cheers erupted from the gathered men. Emboldened by the rousing reception, the Joker went on.
"That's the spirit! In next to no time you'll all be rich men. Literally! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" The Joker continued laughing as Harley Quinn came to stand beside him.
"Where to my copiously corrupt cronies? Paris in the roaring twenties? Rome in the swinging thirties?"
"How about Arkham—twenty minutes from now." A new voice said from the rafters.
In the silence that suddenly developed, everyone looked up into the shadows. "It's Batman!" One of the goons shouted, pointing.
That was his cue. Fanning his cape out around him, Batman leaped into the throng below, appearing to be a dark wraith of vengeance.
The only person not stunned by this sudden appearance was the Joker, who instead whirled around in a mad scramble to start the time machine. But he found his progress checked. Annoyed, he looked down to see that the arm of his suit was pinned to the wall by a Batarang.
Robin had made it to the scene. Grinning from ear to ear, he too swung down from the ceiling, bypassing the brawl below him, landing near the time machine - and the Joker. Batman could handle himself; the Joker, on the other hand, couldn't be allowed to get away.
"If it isn't the Boy Blunder," the Joker sneered casually, all the while tugging to free his sleeve. "Harley, introduce him to the kids!"
"You heard Mista J, go get 'em babies!" With a deft move, she unleashed the two hyenas.
Wide eyed, the Boy Wonder ducked as the first one went flying over his head, to fall yelping into the melee behind him. But the second hit him square in the chest, sending them rolling across the floor together.
"That'll teach ya's ta mess with my Mista J!" Harley yelled after the boy.
With one final wrench, the Joker was able to free himself from the wall. Smoothing his jacket, and running a hand through his emerald green hair, he made his way to the machine once more.
"Joker!" Batman's voice roared over the crowd, arresting the Joker's movement. The Joker turned to see the Dark Knight get free of the entanglement of bodies and launch himself at him. He barely had time to grab Harley Quinn and toss her in the caped cretin's way.
With a startled cry, she slammed into the oncoming Batman, sending both to the floor in a heap. Taking advantage of the momentary distraction, the Joker tried for the machine once more. This time he found his foot snared in a Bat-Line, courtesy of Robin, who had dispensed with the hyena.
"What is this? 'Hang up the Joker Day'?" It was getting so that a man couldn't even use his own time machine around here. He'd have to be sure to write a letter to the mayor.
As he was working to get his foot loose, he saw that Batman was already back on his feet. He was about to berate Harley to do something, when he noticed that one of his guys had finally managed to get hold of a gun. One that was rapidly sighting in on Batman, who was close to the Joker, which in turn meant too close to the machine. That was not a good thing.
"No you idiot! We're too close to—"
The explosion was deafening.