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 Sixteen – Hostile Takeover

Batman was soaring high above the streets of Gotham. The jump was a hundred feet. Physically impossible for any mortal. Batman was not just any mortal. Not now. He landed with a crash on the other building. The flat roof behind him held two foot prints where he had landed. He rolled to slow himself down and got to his feet. The Joker was in front of him. He pointed a hand at him and Batman's costume started to smoulder. He looked down at his chest plate. Small flames started to erupt all around him. He reached to his utility belt and threw a small capsule at the Joker's feet. Ice started growing around the Joker at an incredible speed. In seconds the Joker was frozen to the spot like a statue.

The flames died out on Batman. Batman reached into his utility belt for a red pill. He looked down. This was the last one. If he couldn't get the Joker to swallow this he was out of options. He pushed a pill into the Joker's mouth. The Joker started to melt. A second time the Joker spat the pill out before the trace program had a chance to run.

"If I didn't know you better Batty," said the Joker, as with a cracking sound he broke free of his icy prison. "I would say you are trying to poison me."

Batman sent a scissor kick to the Joker's head. The Joker was still cold and slow and the kick struck home sending the Joker flying against an air conditioning unit. The Joker slid to the ground. There was a huge dent in the unit where the Joker had landed. The Joker raised a hand. Batman did not give him a chance to do anything and he kicked the Joker in the stomach. The Joker followed with a whirlwind of punches that Batman could not even see against his stomach. His armour stopped most of the force but he was still pushed towards the edge of the building. Batman was getting woozy. He tried to aim a kick at the Joker. That was a mistake. He was getting slow and tired. The Joker grabbed his foot and sent him spinning off the edge of the building. The Joker leapt after him and started pummelling him in mid air…

Robin was looking down at a small screen in the Batmobile. It was showing a map of Gotham and a green dot showed Batman. The Red dot showed himself. The dots coincided. He stopped the car and opened the roof. He aimed a grapnel at the nearest building and the rotor mechanism shot him into the air. Below him he could see the mirrored Batmobile's roof slide shut and the car parked itself nicely into the side of the road. In seconds the onboard hologram generator disguised the car as a rather beat up yellow cab.

Above him he could see a blur of falling bodies. Robin reached out an arm and grabbed Batman's arm as he fell. He ignored the Joker who threw him an evil glare in passing. Batman was battered and bleeding. Robin swung them to a fire escape where they both landed safely. There was a huge crash sound below as the Joker landed in the street. A cloud of dust floated up towards them.

Batman wiped some blood from his chin. "I had my grappling hooks. I was quite safe. I thought I told you to go back with Alfred."

"A thanks would be nice. I thought you said you could handle them?"

"Go back to…"

"Save your breath," said Robin. "If we hurry we can both make it out of here alive."

"I've got to stop the Joker."

Robin looked over the edge of the fire escape to see the Joker and the two agents climbing swiftly up the ladders towards them. Robin raised an eyebrow. "I take it your plan to make him take a red pill hasn't worked."

"No."

"Any other plans?"

"No."

"Let's get out of here then. I parked the car down below." Robin looked down. "Oh, someone's trying to clamp it." There was a flash of electricity. "No, they're not." Batman leapt off the fire escape, firing a grapnel as he fell. Robin jumped after him. Agent Smith leapt off the fire escape towards Robin. He grabbed Robin's feet and pulled himself up the cable towards him. Robin kicked him in the stomach and leapt off the cable into midair. Smith suddenly found himself hanging from a cable in the middle of a Gotham street and heading very fast towards a wall. There was a crashing sound as Smith collided with the wall and fell, stunned, towards the street below.

Robin was spinning in midair. He reached a hand to his utility belt and drew out another grappling hook. Before he had a chance to fire it Batman had a hold of his arm and they swung down to the street below.

"I had my grappling hooks," said Robin.

Batman grinned at him. "A thanks would be nice."

Robin pressed a button his utility belt and the yellow taxi behind him flickered and changed to the mirrored Batmobile. It purred out of its space and Batman and Robin leapt in. The stunned traffic warden that had tried to clamp the Batmobile got to his feet. In milliseconds his features warped and the Joker was standing there. Batman pressed a button on the smooth dashboard. A wire net wrapped around the Joker. He pressed another button and a cable shot out of the car and attached itself to a fire escape a hundred foot above, dragging the Joker with it.

Batman pressed the accelerator and soon the car was zipping through the streets. He pressed another button. There was a ringing sound.

"Morpheus," said a voice.

"This is Batman. We need an exit point."

"Where is the Joker?"

"Hanging around somewhere."

"There is an exit point near you." A small orange light started bleeping on the map screen in the car.

"I've got it. We'll be there shortly. How is Alfred?"

"The Nebuchadnezzar has picked him up."

Batman was silent for a couple of seconds as he took a deep breath. "Good. Tell him we will be with him shortly."

There was a squealing sound as the wheels suddenly spun out of control. There was nothing for them to grip. The car stopped and started floating. Batman looked out of the windscreen. He could see the Joker and the agents standing outside.

"Come out! Come out! Wherever you are!" sang the Joker with his hands raised to head height. The Batmobile was thrown against the side of a building. The mirrored surface started to crack. The Batmobile was thrown against the side of another building. This time the wall cracked and crumbled under the pressure. The car went careening through the building, partitions cracking and breaking around them. Batman slammed the controls with frustration. The car was out of control. If he couldn't see the Joker he couldn't stop him. The car was dragged out of the building. It was covered in curtains, books and splintered furniture. These fell to the road below in a gentle rain as the Joker sent the car crashing into the apartment building again…

Morpheus was still in the department store. He was trying to ignore a line of female customers all bringing him items of intimate clothing. The phone behind him started ringing. Morpheus didn't even look behind him. Judging by the shocked expressions in front of him he had been joined by…

"Trinity," said Morpheus, not looking back.

"Yes," she said. "I also brought Mortive and Keaper."

Morpheus turned around and smiled. "If we try and rescue Batman the agents or the Joker could kill us."

"We knew the risks when we signed up," said Mortive. She had blonde hair and high cheekbones. Like all of them she had small black sunglasses on.

"Come on then," said Morpheus. "We can at least give the agents something else to concentrate on…"

They ran out of the department store into the streets of Gotham.

The car was starting to crack up with the sustained damage. Batman pressed a button on the dashboard and the roof slid off with a hiss. He got to his feet and rolled out into the battered apartment along with Robin. The car was still being dragged through the building. Batman looked about him. The building was empty, thank God. He ran to the battered edge of the building. His car was again thrown past him. He could see his reflection in its shattered surface. Three storeys below he could see the Joker and the agents. The Joker had his hands above his head and he was giggling uncontrollably.

Batman glanced over at Robin. "Let's kick their ass," said Robin.

They leapt off the building. Only days earlier this jump would have broken their ankles and given them several weeks hospital time. Now they landed softly next to the Joker and the agents. Batman sent a scorpion kick towards the Joker whilst simultaneously punching Smith in the face. Robin was a blur as he sent a devastating number of kicks and punches towards Brown.

Batman punched and kicked at the Joker. The Joker was dodging everything Batman could throw at him. Batman moved up a gear. His punches were like lightning. Small shock waves could be seen forming around Batman as he punched and kicked. Suddenly the world seemed to slow for Batman. The Joker instead of being a blur seemed to be moving slowly. He could see Smith shooting at him. The bullets leisurely left the gun, leaving a grey trail behind them. He twisted in mid air to dodge them while kicking at the Joker who was suddenly moving at a snail's pace. He punched the Joker. This time his punches connected. He sent a batarang winging towards Smith. It was going too fast for Smith to dodge and it sent his gun spinning into a trashcan.

He looked behind him and could see Trinity, Mortive and Morpheus running towards them. Morpheus threw a red pill to Batman, which he caught whilst punching the Joker in the throat. He turned back to the fight and sent a kick into the Joker's stomach and grabbed him round the neck and forced the red pill into his mouth. He punched the Joker in the stomach to force him to swallow.

The Joker pulled a gun from his pocket and fired it at point blank range at Batman's chest. A shock reverberated through his body. The shot was too close for his armour to have any effect. He tried to stand but was too weak. He looked behind him. Another shot sliced through his body. He tried to speak but his mouth was full of blood. He dropped the Joker, who was starting to turn a silvery colour as the trace program worked and removed him from the system, and fell to his knees. There was another shot from behind him this time and this time he was thrown dying to the ground in front of the fading Joker…