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

Chapter Nine – Hostile Takeover

Batman took over the driving. The Batmobile tore down the road. The leaves on the road formed a small whirlwind as the car passed. A police roadblock in front of the car was torn into pieces as the Batmobile blasted through it. The Batmobile was made of an off worldly metal that Batman had picked up on his travels and as far as he knew there was not much, aside from military hardware, that could even dent it.

A pinging sound came from the dashboard. A small screen lit up again and it showed a blip approaching them. A fast moving blip. A very fast moving blip.

"Missile alert!" Toned the computer.

Batman lightly twitched the steering wheel. The road to the side of them blew up in a vast explosion. Fast moving shrapnel whipped out of the explosion and pinged off the Batmobile. The glass of the windscreen was cracked and scratched by the explosion. There was a roaring sound as a Hawker Harrier jump jet flew upside down above them. Batman looked up and for a second he and the Joker exchanged glances before the Joker roared off ahead. Small parachute mines floated down towards the road. Airfield busters. They were designed to render airstrips unusable. One of them caught on the top of the Batmobile and blew up. The pressure change inside the Batmobile was intense. Batman's ears were ringing. He put his hand to his face and realised his nose was bleeding.

The engines started juddering. They were not used to this much damage. Another missile roared overhead and blew up the road ahead. Batman was going too fast to turn and the car whipped through the explosion. Bits of shrapnel collided with the car and the whole outside of the car was ringing like a bell. The windscreen was completely shattered and pure white. He couldn't see out of it at all. He glanced down at the dashboard and pressed a button. Two screens lit up allowing him to see what was outside.

The Joker's plane flew overhead firing the cannon. The Batman could see on the screen the road erupt in front of him. With another banging sound shots pinged off the roof above him. The roof started to cave in under all this pressure. He looked up. The roof was distinctly bowing under the pressure. He looked behind him and could see Alfred, Robin and Trinity looking distinctly pale.

He pressed his foot down. He had to get them to Arkham. The engines started to growl and stutter. Smoke started to pour in from the dashboard. He pressed a fire suppressant system button on the dashboard and the smoke stopped pouring out. He coughed and his eyes starting to stream. He pressed another button and the air conditioning filtered the air inside the car.

He looked at the screen and could see Arkham Asylum approaching. Hmmm. They had steel doors and guard towers now. He could see on the screen the flickering of lights as the Batmobile went into the 200 yard "dead zone". The guards had orders to shoot to kill. Pinging sounds erupted as the bullets bounced off the Batmobile. With a juddering sound the overused Batmobile engines were starting to die. He pressed his foot down to try and coax a bit more speed from the engines. The engines died and the car started to coast. They were still not in Arkham and they had no force to break down the doors!

With a roaring sound a missile shot over them and blew the doors of Arkham Asylum off their hinges…

The Batmobile coasted into the Arkham Asylum courtyard, its engines completely dead and looking like it had been the losing contestant in a tank battle.

The top, instead of hissing open like a well-oiled snake, clanked open like a dozen tins of beans thrown down some steps. Batman forced the door to open the last few inches and leapt out. He gave a hand to Alfred and Robin and they all turned to look at Morpheus.

"Where now?" said Batman. He looked around them. There were several dazed looking guards, who had been thrown to the ground by the explosion and were starting to wake up.

"Third floor," said Morpheus. He started running towards a door. Two guards with guns tried to stop him. Morpheus spun around on one foot and kicked one of the guards out of the way whilst simultaneously punching the other one in the stomach.

Batman spared one second to look back at his car. It was barely recognisable as a car now, it was covered in dents and scratches and even one wheel was hanging loosely off the side. No time for maudlin self-pity. He raced after Morpheus.

They ran up the stairs of the asylum. There was a cage door in front of him, which Morpheus simply shot the lock off of. There was an office in front of him and a ringing sound emanating from the office. All of them crowded into the office. Morpheus jammed the door shut and started piling filing cabinets against the door. Batman helped him. He didn't know why; there was no way out of here. What was going on?

Morpheus got his phone from his pocket and said. "We are here." He turned to Batman, Robin and Alfred. "This is your last chance, gentlemen." He opened his hands and he had three pills in each hand. He looked Batman in the eyes. "Do you know what that feeling is?"

"What?"

"It's that feeling you have had all your life. That feeling that something was wrong with the world. You don't know what it is but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad, driving you on your quest to catch criminals. But what is it? Take the red pill and find out."

Behind him he could hear noises as the guards started to gather outside the door. The first banging sounds emanated through the small office as they tried to batter through the door.

Batman picked up a red pill. Still uncertain whether what he was doing was right, he put it in his mouth and crunched down on it. He looked over at Robin. He had also taken a red pill and eaten it. Alfred had not. He was looking at Batman in confusion.

Batman looked down at his hand. He could see through his arm!

Morpheus spoke into his mobile. "Do we have a lock on them?"

Batman could hear a voice on the other end. "I'm worried, man, he's old; he might pop on us."

"Have faith."

Batman looked over at the door. The filing cabinets were starting to move inwards under the pressure of the guards. He tried to tell Alfred to take a pill but he couldn't speak. Trinity picked up the ringing phone in the office and disappeared in a burst of white light. Morpheus stayed in the office on the mobile phone.

"Do we have them yet?"

"No, we have nothing!" he heard Tank say.

Batman couldn't breathe. He started to choke. He looked up at the ceiling. A web of cracks started to appear above him. Plaster started to rain down on him. He could hear his heart beat in his ears. His heartbeat stopped!

"We have him!" he heard Tank say. "We've got the boy!"

He looked over at Robin to see him disappear in a flash of white light. Alfred was still not taking a red pill. Morpheus thrust a tablet into his hands and hissed at him. "Take a pill before it is too late! It is part of a tracker program! If you don't take it we can't get you out of here!"

Batman could not speak. He was huddled in pain on the floor. He couldn't breathe. His heart had stopped. He could feel his life ebb away. The floor looked like a river of mercury. He looked at his hands. His fingers distended into mirrored icicles that began to melt rapidly, dripping, running like wax down his fingers, spreading across his palms where he saw his face reflected.

Morpheus looked calmly at Batman. He spoke on the mobile again. "He is going into replication, Tank. We need a signal now."

He looked over at Alfred. He had still not eaten the pill and was staring in shock at Batman. He could see Morpheus trying to give Alfred the pill. He could hear him pleading with him to take the pill. Alfred was in shock and was just staring on the floor at Bruce. He wasn't listening to anything Morpheus was saying.

"We have him!" he heard Tank say over the phone.

He screamed a long, long scream and his world fell away…

The wall of the office exploded in a welter of dust and two agents and the Joker stood there. Morpheus had just picked up the other phone. The phone was hard-wired to the outside and in a flash of light, with a strange tinge of green he disappeared.

Alfred was still shaking with fear, crouched in the corner. He suddenly realised his only hope of escape was the pill. He raised his hand to his mouth but the Joker, with inhuman speed, grabbed his hand.

"No! No, old man! We don't want you leaving us so soon!"

"We've lost them!" hissed Agent Smith. "It was your job to catch them, you white faced fool!"

"Au contraire, mon ami!" said the Joker. "We might not have caught old pointy ears and his follically challenged friend but unless I miss my guess he will be back to pick up his buddy. And when he does we'll rip his wings off and pin him down like the overgrown butterfly he is."

"You mean we kidnap this old man?"

"Why be so mundane! That is your problem, Smithy boy. You think so small. Why, I bet you have never worn anything purple in your life, let alone found the joys of unfettered makeup!" The Joker swept his hands around him. "We are in Arkham Asylum. Possibly the worst guarded, most entertaining prison in the world! Let them take care of him. Can your system make us into guards and Alfred into an inmate? Then all we have to do is wait for Batman to turn up!"

Agent Smith put one hand to his ear, listening to instructions. His lip curled up in a semblance of a smile and he nodded.

Alfred looked about him. There was a flickering as the system changed something fundamental in the world. He looked down and he was wearing prison clothes, and the Joker and the agents were wearing prison guard uniforms, all three with the prerequisite sunglasses.

The Joker put one arm around Alfred and led him out into the corridor. "Come on old man! Allow me to show you to your quarters, I know you will have a killer time!"