Part Two

"Mr. Wayne, thank you for coming over." Mr. Jinx exclaimed nervously.

Bruce moved past the fence gate and shook the hand of the man in charge of Wayne Enterprises planned construction of a plant on the cliffs overlooking Gotham shore. "I trust this is as important as you say, I postponed a board meeting to come here."

Jinx nodded, "It is." He said rubbing his palms together, "Believe me, sir, you'll be glad I called you."

Moving into the construction site, Bruce made eyes with each and every worker; his own father, Thomas, had been in pits just like this one in his youth, he still remembered the stories the elder Wayne would tell him from those days.

Passing by the workmen and debris was difficult but Jinx seemed to know the grounds adequately enough. They finally came to an open gore in the cave, like a mouth leading into some hideous abyss.

"What is this?" Bruce asked staring into the darkness.

"It's a cave." Jinx replied, "We were blasting away as planned when one of the explosions must have caused a shockwave strong enough to make the rocks covering this entrance give way. We've sent men down there, and it's amazing."

Bruce grimaced, "I want to see."

"Sir, it's not safe." Jinx said cautiously, "We've used some ropes and pulleys but if something should happen."

"I said I'm going down." Bruce responded forcefully, "Now get me down there or I'll fire you, is that understood?" Being in charge definitely had its perks.

Jinx grimaced, "Y-yes sir."

With several ropes attached around his waist and a flashlight in his hand, Bruce was lowered down the mouth of the cave into the massive vast expanse below them. His light illuminated the interior features well enough. It seemed bottomless, stretching on for possibly miles.

There also seemed to be a large section of rock jutting out at the center, directly under him, leading out into the depths of the cave. "Lower me down!" He yelled out to the workers in control of his lifeline.

They immediately complied and dropped Bruce onto the rock gently before he gave the signal to stop. He looked down at the path of the central rock, and to his surprise felt flowing air. This cave network obviously led out to the shore somewhere.

It was now that Bruce noticed a screeching noise, becoming ever louder, forcing him to shine a light onto the source. His eyes widened and he quickly pulled the light away realizing what he had truly found. Thousands perhaps even millions of bats, hung from the roof of the cave in a deep slumber.

"Odd." He remarked to himself, not at their presence, but at how comfortable he felt here. Bruce felt excited, energized, and active more intensely than he had in years. He tugged on the line and his ascent began.

"What should we do Mr. Wayne?" Jinx asked Bruce as he moved away from the site back towards his limo, parked outside the gate.

"Halt construction, I want no more blasting." The tycoon replied almost eccentrically.

Jinx frowned, "Halt construction? Are you sure about that, sir? Why?"

Bruce stopped and faced his underling with a stern expression which immediately established his dominance in the matter, "Because I told you to." That cave was unique, accomplishing something no amount of stock reports, alcohol or women could do: it interested him.

The Joker grinned cruelly at the young girl-scout tied to the floor. "That'll teach you to go knocking on the doors of strange people." He exclaimed biting a chunk off one of the cookies she had brought with her.

"Don't hurt me!" She exclaimed horrified at her potential fate at the hands of this madman, "I won't tell anyone you're here, I swear."

"What's with all of this crying?" Joker asked, "Here have a cookie." He said throwing one from the box at her cheek before breaking down into a maniacal laughter. "I kill me."

Joker dropped the box onto the floor, "Fact of the matter; is I was bored as it was, and you've provided me with a perfect opportunity." He grabbed the small make-up kit from the couch of the small home in this peaceful suburbia; the stench of the previous owners still reeked. "You see my display at the school showed I was ruthless, no doubt about that, but I mean any loser could have done that. I need something to really flesh out my resume." He said as if confiding in the young girl. Joker pulled out lipstick from the kit and pressed it against his own lips turning them a bright crimson, "Something that'll really get them scared."

He now applied white powder to his face, "I mean I could do all sorts of horrible and evil things to you, but none of those would elicit the sort of response, I'm looking for. Don't you agree?"

"Please!"

"Hush!" Joker screamed angrily, "I'm thinking here." He exclaimed running his fingers gently through his newly dyed green hair. "What would bring them to their knees in fright?" Suddenly, a cold grin swept across his face, "I've got it. Little girl, give me your biggest smile?"

Gripped with fear she managed only a meager change in her facial expression, much to the Joker's disappointment, "We'll have to work on that. Never fear, I'm on the job." He said pulling a blade from his jacket pocket.

It felt as if the bats had reached into his mind. Bruce sat brooding in the study, already late for his weekly jujitsu session.

Alfred entered cautiously, "Sir, should I call to inform them you won't be attending today?"

"What?" Bruce inquired before realizing the time, "Oh, yes, thank you Alfred, tell master Kenshi that I was held by a board meeting or…something."

"I understand." Alfred said silently leaving.

Bruce grimaced as the image before him; the bat consumed the study, even the city with its darkness. And it was that darkness, that part of the cave that his vision could not perceive that fascinated him so.