"yOu MaY oBsErVe A bReAd-AnD-bUtTeR-fLy. iTs wInGs ArE tHiN sLiCeS oF bReAd-AnD-bUtTeR, iTs BoDy Is A cRuSt, aNd ItS hEaD iS a LuMp oF sUgAr," the Mad Hatter recited in a creepy yet amused voice. "Oh, the gnat knew precisely what he was saying, wasn't he?"
The tied-up girl on the catwalk answered with muffled cries as she tried to scream. Unfortunately for her, her mouth was taped like the girl at the Fourth of July celebration. She fidgeted but could barely move.
"I would have let you out, but you've already proven that you can't be trusted," said the Mad Hatter, gesturing at the small bite mark on his wrist.
"You're lucky, Jervis. I would've bitten you harder," came a voice from the shadows of the catwalk.
The Mad Hatter chuckled. "I knew you would figure out my little game, Batman. You always do."
"It took me longer than usual, Jervis. You took quite a different approach this time." Batman's face was not amused, even though his voice sounded that way.
"I had to."
"Why did you have to, Jervis? Why? Why did you have to kill all those girls?"
"Because I did!" yelled the Mad Hatter. "They had to understand! They all had to understand!"
"Who had to understand?" Batman wasn't a fool. He realized that he had to keep Tetch talking if he wanted to stop the murder of another innocent girl.
"Everyone! They all overlook me! 'Who's the Mad Hatter?' they ask. 'He's a villain?' they ask. 'Wonderland's a wimpy thing to base crimes off of,' they say. With the likes of Two-Face, Poison Ivy, The Riddler, and that clown the Joker, I never get anyone to recognize me for what I am. I'm just as deadly as they, but no one ever remembers me. I made them remember. They all know me now. They all fear me. I've heard it on the news. All the women are afraid. Did you know that less people in Gotham would even think of naming their daughters Alice just because of me? That's respect. That's the respect I deserve."
Batman shook his head. "But there were other ways, Jervis. These were innocent women."
"No one's innocent anymore, Batman! No one! I've seen it myself. People in this city treat others like dirt. They hurt their feelings. They stamp on their emotions. I never caused that much damage. All I did was put a few girls out of their misery in this miserable city."
"There were other ways-"
"There were not any other ways! I thought long and hard about this all that time I spent in Arkham! The Arkham that YOU put me in!" The Mad Hatter grabbed the girl by the hair and tossed her over the railing of the catwalk.
Without wasting an instant, Batman shot another of his grappling hooks swung down, catching the girl before she fell in a vat of churning butter. She may have lived three seconds in that vat before the churn crushed her body in a batch of butter.
Batman looked up from the ground where he dropped the girl off. He saw the Mad Hatter running off the catwalk. The Dark Knight removed a gas pellet from the utility belt around his waist. Taking aim, he launched it to where the Mad Hatter was escaping. It burst as it hit the catwalk, and a green gas poured out knocking the Hatter to the metallic floor with a clack.
The Mad Hatter looked down at the ground, coughing the green smoke out of his lungs. He scrambled towards the door at the end of the catwalk, but his hands wrapped around a black boot that was standing in his path. He looked up and saw Batman's mouth underneath his cowl.
Batman didn't smile, but his voice was lighter than the Mad Hatter had ever heard it. "'The time has come,' the Walrus said, 'To talk of many things.'"
The Mad Hatter stared into Batman's eyes. Tears formed in his own as he completed the quote he knew so well. "Of ShOeS aNd ShIpS aNd sEaLiNg WaX. oF cAbbAgEs….AnD kInGs."