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. I would like to thank Cmar for beta-reading this chapter and the previous few chapters and all the reviewers. They are all greatly appreciated. All reviews welcome.
Chapter Fifteen – Hostile Takeover
The Joker looked up. A car was approaching him quickly. Very quickly. This was a car unlike any he had seen before. The mirrored Batmobile screeched to a halt next to Alfred and the top slid open. The Joker grinned even more widely.
"See you around Alfy!" he said and pointed his gun at Batman who leapt out of the Batmobile. He shot twice at Batman but the bullets went through. Batman carried on running towards the Joker. The Joker looked stupidly at the end of his gun and raised his hands towards Batman. Batman started flickering like a bad TV signal and finally disappeared. A hologram. "NO FAIR!" The Joker shouted. The Batmobile started reversing quickly. He looked to his left and realised that Alfred had gone. The Joker raised a hand towards the Batmobile. The Batmobile started floating softly off the ground. The wheels started whining, as they suddenly had no surface to grip to.
The Joker smiled and moving his hand towards himself; the Batmobile floated towards him. There was a cracking sound as he mentally pushed the Batmobile into a lamppost. "Whoops! I hope you're insured, Batty!" A missile leapt out of the Batmobile and exploded a net over the Joker. "Is that the best you can do Batty? Yeaaargh!" The Joker shrieked in pain as 4000 volts coursed through the metal net. The Joker's mental hold on the Batmobile broken, it fell ten feet to the ground and roared off into the distance in a cloud of dust.
The Joker ripped the net off, cursing colourfully. He looked to his right and left and could see Agents Smith and Brown. "What are you looking at?"
"You have failed again."
"I'm just getting started! Do we know where they are going?"
Smith raised a hand to his ear. "No. There are 9 active hard wire points in Gotham. Their current speed and trajectory means they could be heading to any of them."
"I don't care! Just get me in front of the mirror machine. Goddam I always knew Batman was vain. Can't even get in a car without preening in front of his reflection."
The Joker, Smith and Brown's face morphed and three rather surprised looking Gotham guards appeared.
Alfred looked about the inside of the updated Batmobile. It was all gleaming surfaces. The buttons and dials were all just under the smooth shiny surface. Easy to clean this car, he thought. One of the problems with the other Batmobile was that all the buttons and dials were a haven for dust. Batman was operating the car with a black ebony steering wheel. Even that, Alfred noted, had several buttons hidden just below the surface. He looked out the window. The buildings and cars were zipping past so fast it was like being on a plane.
"Thank you for rescuing me, Master Bruce."
Batman glanced over at him and gave a wry smile. "Didn't look like you needed much rescuing."
Alfred acknowledged this with a slight nod of his head. "I always try and leave a place better than when I started. I get the feeling when they serve food again there and I'm not there to cook there might be a small riot."
Robin said. "Just like Wayne Manor when you are on holiday. Have you ever seen Batman cook a pot noodle?" He shuddered.
"What the hell is with the Joker and those powers?" said Batman to Morpheus.
"I do not know. He is exhibiting powers beyond what I have seen."
The Batman gave a wry smile. "Could he be this chosen one you are looking for?"
Morpheus did not smile. "The saviour of the human race would not manifest himself as a psychopathic clown." Morpheus was silent for a moment. "I hope." He added.
The car suddenly stopped. Batman pressed a button and the top hissed open. There in front of them was the Joker and two agents. The car was again hovering above the ground. Batman leapt out of the car. Batman leapt out of the car. Batman leapt out of the car. Alfred rubbed his eyes in shock. It looked like there were three Batmen in front of the car. Holograms, he thought.
The other two holograms were being perforated by the Joker and the agents. The images flickered. Batman reached down to his utility belt and threw a flashbang at the feet of the Joker and the agents. There was a violent explosion, knocking them off their feet. The holograms crackled and died. The Joker started shooting at the real Batman. Two bullets pinged off his armour, throwing him to the ground. Batman rolled and threw a batarang at the Joker. The Joker waved his hand at it and it started spinning in midair. It then headed back towards Batman. He pressed a button on his utility belt and the batarang exploded in midair.
Batman reached his hands behind his back and threw something at the Joker and the agents. It was like a silver cloud full of tiny spinning batarangs.
"Whoopsie!" He heard the Joker say as the miniature batarangs covered him and the agents. There was a cloud of smoke and flames as they exploded, throwing the Joker and the agents back ten feet through a glass shop window and into a display of wedding dresses.
Batman turned to the car. "Get Alfred out of here! I'll hold them off."
"What about you, sir?" said Alfred.
"I can handle them! Go! Go!" Batman pressed a button on his belt and the car hissed shut and roared off into the distance. Batman reached to his belt and pulled out a grapnel. He pointed it at the nearest building and was soon soaring above the streets. He let go of the grapnel and spun and twisted in midair as he sought a handhold. He grabbed hold of a fire escape and pulled himself up. He ran to the top of the 30 storey building where there were three workmen waterproofing the roof. As he looked at them they morphed into the shapes of the Joker and the Agents. Before the agents had a chance to get used to their new location Batman scissor kicked Smith in the stomach and punched Brown in the head. He grabbed hold of Brown and pushed him off the building with his hands whilst grabbing Smith with his feet and throwing him into space. He aimed a scorpion kick at Smith while he was in midair and he joined Brown on the thirty-storey trip straight down. They were agents. They would survive, but it would slow them down. That just left him with the Joker.
The Joker tittered at this. "I never liked those squares anyway." The Joker raised his hands towards Batman. "Let's tango!"
Batman threw something towards him. The Joker was suddenly getting wrapped in metal wire pinning his hands to his sides. The Batman reached into his utility belt and got out a red pill. A tracking program. If he could get the Joker to swallow it he would be in a one-way trip out of the Matrix where he would lose his powers and be as helpless as a newborn. He forced the Joker's mouth open and pushed the pill in. The Joker spat it out and laughed.
"I never accept sweets from strangers!" He breathed deeply and the wires surrounding him snapped off into pieces. He made a grab at Batman but he dodged it, grabbed the Joker's arm, and twisted his foot into his armpit trying to dislocate his arm. It was a move he had carried out with success dozens of times. Here it was impossible. The Joker twisted away from Batman and leapt into the air. Next time Batman looked he was on the building opposite him. Batman breathed deeply. Now was the time to see if Morpheus's lessons had struck home. He was not an agent. If he fell here he would die. Batman took a step back and ran towards the side of the building…
Morpheus was driving the Batmobile at incredible speeds through the crowded streets of Gotham. The car screeched to a halt outside a department store. The roof hissed open and Morpheus, Alfred and Robin leapt out and ran inside. Alfred was still complaining about leaving Batman behind.
"He knows what he is doing," intoned Morpheus. Robin was not so sure.
They ran past several surprised looking shoppers towards a ringing phone on the complaints desk. Morpheus handed Alfred a red pill. "Take this pill."
"I will wait for Batman to come back."
"Batman risked his life to get you back. If you don't take this pill it will all be for nothing…"
Alfred got the pill from Morpheus and crunched down on it. In front of the surprised looking shoppers Alfred started to go translucent.
Morpheus got his mobile out and pressed one button. "Tank, this is Morpheus. He has taken the trace program. Do you have a signal?"
"Not yet," said Tank
Alfred fell to the ground in front of the horrified shoppers. He was starting to turn a silvery colour.
Morpheus looked down unemotionally at Alfred. "We need a trace soon. He is old; if he goes into replication we will lose him."
"Still negative."
Alfred's features started swimming, his nose floating about his face like a Picasso painting.
"He is going into replication."
"WE HAVE HIM! WE HAVE HIM!" shouted Tank.
Alfred blinked out of existence in a flash of green.
Morpheus smiled and slid shut his phone. He went to talk to Robin and realised he had gone. Outside he heard the roar of the Batmobile as it sped off. There was a coughing sound. He looked down to see a little old lady who couldn't have been any taller than five foot tugging at his black leather coat.
"Excuse me, young man, I'd like to return this bra please?"