Chapter 8

Bruce walked all through the house the next day. Each step counted as one 'unit' of both grief and disappointment for himself. How could he have been so foolish as to give in like that? He had to come up with something that would both defeat the 'Fantastic five' (as it were), and let Robin live. Batman wasn't going down without a fight.

'Master Bruce, might I suggest getting rid of them one at a time. It would seem logical…' Alfred cut in.

Bruce turned to face him.

'Actually, that might just work…' he replied.

It was night time before anyone took any further action (well, besides the Joker. He continued last night). Cynthia and Michelle were hanging out like best friends, Lisa and Jonathan were loved up, and Bruce had been plotting his revenge. When the so-called bad guys came back to cause more trouble, Bruce was already waiting for them. If you didn't know better, you could say that it was Batman that was hunting the other side, not the other way round!

They all came back to the asylum, again, in the hydrotherapy room. It was about 11 PM, and most people in Gotham were asleep. First Cat woman and the Joker came, then it was Poison Ivy, and then it was the other two.

'So, why are we here again?' Ivy asked.

'We're here because me, you and Harley know our way around the place…' Scarecrow replied.

There was a moments silence as the 'waited' for Batman to 'arrive'. None of them knew that he was lurking nearby. The thing that broke the quiet was the Joker going to take a look-round at the place. He went into the shadows. That was when the rest of them heard him cry out. Batman had knocked him unconscious (using a punch) without Joker knowing what had hit him. When the rest of them had heard him, Ivy decided to take a look, Michelle following her. Lisa and Crane were the only ones left.

'So it was you?' Ivy asked him, taking him off his guard. While she said this, Michelle crept up behind him.

'Of course…' he replied.

'But you wouldn't hit a lady?' she said.

'No…'

Lisa smiled at her boyfriend. It had been so long since she had dated someone like he was. He smiled back.

'So what do you want to do?' she asked.

'Whatever you want, sweetie…' was the reply.

With that, she kissed him. He kissed her back, deepening it as much as he could. He pushed her against a wall, still fixed onto her. It must have been a full minute before anything else happened. When it did happen, he was the one to do it. He took something out of his pocket. Lisa didn't notice, since she had her eyes closed, still kissing him as passionately as before. She loved him with all her heart and soul. She would do anything for him.

Pushing her arms up to a pipe, he tied her to it. When she felt it, she stopped her kissing. When she looked at him, he was smiling (or, what looked to be a smile, since the mask was still on). But this smile was the sort that Jackson had; cruel, sinister, and just plain creepy.

'Baby, what are doing?' she asked, a little unsure where this was going, and with a slight tremble in her voice.

'What do you think?' he asked, still smiling.

What went through her head was nothing like what was going to happen. She thought of it in an erotic manner. He thought of it in a cruel manner. He backed away from her. No one would be there to help her, even if they tried. He knew that Batman would get rid of the other two, and just think of what Crane was doing as a help.

Crane held his arm out slightly towards himself, as he got the serum ready.

'Jonathan, this isn't funny…' Lisa cried out. She was nearly crying.

'Of course it's not…' he answered, not looking up from his arm.

When he had it ready, he walked towards her. He grabbed her face, like Jackson had in the restroom.

'I'll go easy on you. I'll tell you what's about to happen to you…' he said, letting go of her face.

'You see, I didn't obtain victims just by going into their cells. If it was a woman, I played with her emotions a little, much as I did with you. When the moment was right, I got her with my medicine…' he smirked.

Lisa closed her eyes, trying to hold back the tears, but it was no use. Jackson had got her from beyond the grave (He had to be dead. She and her father shot him). With that, he walked about the room a bit. He was trying to get her in a position pf which she just wanted to die.

She did. She had loved this man, and thought that he felt the same way about her! She trusted him; she had even slept with him, for God's sake! All she wanted to do now was die and hoped that she never encountered another Jackson for as long as she lived.

She wept for at least a few minutes, Crane still prancing about in his mask. Then a hand came up from beneath the shadows and clasped her mouth close. When the person revealed them selves, she just stared wide in shock. It was Jackson. When he let go of her, she was about to scream out again, when he put his hand on her face once again.

'Don't scream. I'm going to get you out of here…' he whispered. Crane obviously didn't hear them.

Lisa agreed, and he took his hand away. He got out his K-Bar and started to cut through the rope. When he had finished, she let her hands down and he led her back into the shadows.

'Lisa, stay here. I'm going to do the rest…' he said.

She watched him leave her. He had his knife in his hands and was heading towards Crane. Lisa just closed her eyes. She knew what was coming next. Minutes later, Jackson had finished, leaving a pool of blood by Crane's lifeless body. When Jackson let her come back out, she rushed towards him.

'Why did you have to kill him?' she asked.

'He was the one that was the psycho. He ended up in the asylum, anyway. Would you have rather knowing that he might still have been out to get you?' he replied.

'No…'

'Good…' he said, kissing her. This time, Lisa didn't back away. She was going to have a relationship with Jackson, whether it killed her or not.