Batman and the associated characters are owned by DC and the Matrix and it's characters are owned by Larry and Andy Wachowski. This is set before the original Matrix film. All reviews welcome!

Chapter Six – Hostile Takeover

Morpheus drew a gun but before he had a chance to start shooting a metal door comes tearing up through the floor and seals off the room. Another steel shutter drops down over the window. He looked over at Alfred. Alfred pressed a button on the wall, hidden under a tapestry.

"After Bane broke in a while ago we decided to upgrade the security on the mansion," said Alfred. Alfred pointed up at the emergency lights. "It runs on an emergency generator." Alfred gave a wry smile. "We've placed a few surprises around the manor as well."

The room was dark with just the light from the emergency generator casting them in a strange glow. From the other side of the metal door could be heard the sound of bangs and crashes…

The Joker was annoyed. He had at last found out the identity of Batpest and now he had to share it with all these police. He didn't normally work well with police and it was all he could do not to start painting his gun purple with little flowers on it and start giving the police life insurance fund a real battering.

Then a metal door came flying out of the floor and sealed them off. What was that clanking sound? He looked to his left and one of the suits of armour that stands next to the doorway had left the pedestal. He took his sunglasses off and rubbed his eyes. No it wasn't a trick. Oof! The other knight had just hit him in the back with a mace. No fair!

No wonder Bruce Wayne didn't entertain at home very often! The other knight was waving a medieval two-handed sword. A two-handed sword could cut through mail and bone. This sword had a serrated edge to cut off the pikes of halberd axes. Well it had been boring in Arkham. Even he visited the library occasionally.

He got to his feet and immediately ducked as the mace nearly connected with his head. He could see between the visors and could see a dull red glow of a robot's eyes. He sent a scissor kick to the knight's midriff and watched with satisfaction as the knight went flying against the stairs and bits of armour went flying off to reveal the robot's endoskeleton.

Agents Smith and Brown were fighting the other knight with limited success since they could only get as close as the four foot sword would allow. They still got in a few punches and kicks.

The other "knight" clambered off the stairs, shedding bits of armour. Two members of a police swat team shot at it and the "knight" sent two drug tipped darts into their necks knocking them out instantly. The Joker giggled. He picked up a gun from the floor. A Heckler and Koch MP5. He emptied the magazine at the robot and then leapt at it. He just loved his new skills! He ran up the wall, round the ceiling and came down behind the robot. The robot was slow. It aimed a dart at the Joker but he dodged it and kicked the robot in the head sending it flying into the four members of the police swat team still standing. Double bonus, he thought, and squared up to the "knight" as it clambered to its feet.

Bruce was thinking. They needed to get to the Batcave. Would they have sealed the cave entrance on the road as well? Quite likely. But to even get there to check they would have to go through the grounds. On his own he stood a good chance. Five years of training by the some of the best masters in the orient meant he could walk through the darkness like a ghost. With Alfred, Tim and this Morpheus and Trinity characters? He didn't rate his chances.

There was only one other way in. It was where he had fallen into the cave as a child. His father had sealed it up afterwards but his father had been a first class doctor but only a second classcarpenter.

"We need a distraction Alfred."

Alfred gave a small smile and got a remote control from a nearby cabinet and started pressing some buttons.

Deep in one of the Wayne Manor garages a member of the Gotham Police Swat team was making his way nervously. He didn't like any of this. Why was the Joker suddenly working with them? Orders from on high apparently. Gordon had flat out refused to lend any assistance to this escapade. Even Gordon couldn't stop his men being assigned to these Agent controls. They had all the authority. There were lots of vehicles here from Lamborghini's to Ferraris. He had even passed an armoured humvee with blacked out windows. This Wayne guy certainly liked his cars. The humvee he had just passed suddenly growled into life. He turned around just in time to see the garage doors open and the humvee race down the drive. He ran out of the garage and aimed his gun. The humvee crashed several police cars out of the way. He saw some of his colleagues leap out of its way. He put the gun to his shoulder and loosed several shots after it. It would take more than a few bullets to stop an armoured humvee. Two police helicopters immediately stopped putting spotlights on the Wayne Manor windows and peeled off after the car. Six police cars raced out after it.
Alfred was enjoying himself. On the controller in front of him he had a small overhead screen showing the humvee's location on a map and a small screen showing a drivers eye view of the humvee. He pressed a button on the control and a he could just hear a mocking beep sound in the distance as the humvee tooted its horn.

Not that he liked to boast but he had spent several days practicing with this around Wayne Manor when they first got it, and he had got very good at it. Tim and Alfred had even raced the Batmobile and the humvee round the local roads by remote control when Bruce had been out and he had beaten Tim who was controlling the Batmobile. Mainly because in spite of the Batmobile's many admirable qualities it was not an off roader.

He was following Bruce out of the back door of the manor and into the small herb garden he had. He nearly tripped up over his feet a couple a times since it is difficult to concentrate on driving a car and walking at the same time. Something few people have experience of. The police were still following close behind the humvee. He pressed a button when he was on a straight road to flick through the cameras on the humvee. One showed the side. One showed a police car close behind and there standing on the police car, just about to leap over was an agent. The other side showed… Alfred nearly dropped the controller in shock. The Joker's evil clown like face was leering upside down at him.

The Joker was still having fun. He had just finished pounding that robot to scrap metal when the wretched system had moved him into a policeman's body and he was now following a humvee. Bruce Man or Bat Wayne or whatever the hell he called himself now had obviously made a break for freedom. Agent Brown was driving the police car he was in. The Joker clambered out onto the roof of the speeding police car. He could see a trail of police cars behind him and several police helicopters in the air above him. The humvee was peppered with bullet holes but nothing had stopped it so far.

"Get us closer Brownie old fruit," shouted the Joker to Agent Brown. Agent Smith clambered out the other side. This roof was getting distinctly crowded. The Joker was tempted to push Smith off the roof but that would accomplish nothing. It didn't stop being tempted though! The Joker steeled himself and leapt onto the roof of the humvee.

Lying on the roof the Joker peered in upside down through the window. He couldn't see anything. He got his gun and started to shoot through the windows. Damn. Bulletproof glass. "Oof!"

The Joker looked up. The humvee had left the road and was racing through a wood. The branches threatened to pull the Joker off. The Joker heard a thumping sound and saw that Smith had joined him on the roof. Agent Smith put one hand under the roof and started to peel it off. Now why hadn't he thought of that? A big branch caught Smith under the chin and threw him into the centre of a muddy slime filled puddle.

The Joker laughed at Smith when another branch caught the Joker squarely between the legs and sent him spinning into a tree before dropping him neatly into a local farmer's silage pit in a shower of leaves and twigs. "Good thing I don't feel pain and can't smell now…" Thought the Joker before he blacked out.

Bruce Wayne and the others had silently made it into the grounds of the mansion. It was difficult to see at night but even without night vision goggles Bruce Wayne had excellent night vision. He took them to a spot to the side of the house and started digging with his hands into the turf. In the distance he could hear the sounds of the police chase diminishing. Alfred was leading them a merry dance. In a few seconds he had dug through the turf and he saw the wooden baffle he had put in place when he went down here after Azrael. He gave himself a wry smile. His carpentry skills were probably on a par with his fathers.

He helped the others down and got a torch from his pocket. He showed the others the small cave leading to the Batcave. The Cave had its own hydroelectric power from a small generator run by an underground stream. The motion sensor lights blazed out underground as they walked into the centre of the cave.

Morpheus got his phone out and rang one number. Since his phone wasn't connected to the normal "network" it would work even underground "Tank, where is the nearest exit point?"

"You're not going to like this sir."

"Just tell me."

"Five miles away on the outskirts of Gotham."

"Sounds fine. We'll make it."

"In the third floor of Arkham Asylum High Security Section."

Authors Note - Thanks for Cmar for the comments on DIY. I have changed that to carpentry.