The giant, metal latches of the entrance to intensive treatment flung off in a synchronized harmony before the two halves of the thick door parted ways. John slowly stepped in while switching his aim around sporadically, gun aimed by his chest at an angle. John made his way down the entrance hall and to the second set of doors beneath a sign that read "ARKHAM ASYLUM INTENSIVE TREATMENT," the cameras on either side snapping to record him, a gravelly voice demanding, "Now who on Earth do you think you are? There's no one allowed on the island, pal, so now you can turn around before I kill any hostages, capiche?"

John merely stared at the cameras, the man on the mic once more ordering, "Are you deaf?! This joint couldn't spring for something for the hearing impaired, what a shame. How about I do you a solid and let you in, see how long that pea shooter gets you?"

The door before John unlocked and opened just like the one before, the clown on the other end saying, "Enjoy your stay at Arkham Asylum, you can stay as long as you rot like the rest of us."

With that, John put a round in each camera, Joker recoiling back in the control room as he growled, "Who the hell do you think you are pal, let's see how much fun you have with Slade's boys."

John ran down the empty hall beyond the blast doors, finding only a few crumpled, bloody bodies of guards leading to a platform elevator. As soon as John set his feet on the platform, the engine kicked on and the assassin slowly descended to the next level, mostly caged off with barbed wire topping it. Taking the narrow entrance, he was sprayed with a thick smoke as he passed through a decontamination zone and was scanned from every angle by piercing lights thereafter. The alarms began to sound as the Joker pestered John again, "Oh, my, sneaking contraband in a maximum security prison? For shame, buddy, that's some serious time in solitary. But, seeing as you're all by yourself, I'll consider your punishment a fair sentence of getting torn apart by the wackos of this dump. As always, enjoy your stay," he drew off, hitting the loud speakers throughout the building, "Oh, boys, we've got fresh meat! Go easy on the new guy, will you, it's his first night in the pokey. Don't kill him until I get there."

The door at the end of the checking zone sunk into the floor, the roars and cheers of the inmates in the asylum becoming deafening in an instant. John tentatively entered and found two paths, one locked off to the left and his path to the right wide open. Taking the obvious route, John, a concrete wall separating the two rooms until he made it halfway through the hallway, chain link replacing it and revealing dozens of men dressed as clowns on the other side, rattling the fence and shouting at him. John merely shot one in the head before they all stepped back and went silent, the men muttering among themselves as John spoke, "I don't suppose any of you know where I can find a Joker?"

One of the men spoke up with a laugh, mocking, "You want the boss? You'll have to go through us!"

John tilted his head to the side before dropping the man with a round between the eyes, repeating himself, "Where is the Joker?"

"Go on ahead, man," another spoke up, "Joker's running this whole asylum, your best way through is down that elevator. Control room is further down towards the center of intensive treatment."

"Thanks," John began, heading off to leave the room and turning to speak before he left, "Be seeing you."

Joker sat in front of his monitor, hand propped against his chin and other index finger tapping on the desk, the door behind him flying open as a blonde woman in black and red corset with matching thigh-high boots and a painted face strutted in, calling, "Hey, puddin', I saw you made the news! I'm so proud of you! How about a big kiss?"

Joker sat silent, continuing to drum his finger on the desk. Harley hunched over his shoulder, wrapping her arms around his neck as she whispered, "What's a matter, hun? You won, you've got the bat and the police here right where you want 'em? Why don't you do the same with me?"

Joker stood up and looked at the freezframe of John on the camera, taking aim at it. "Who's that loser?"

Without warning, Joker cracked Harley across the mouth with the back of his hand, sending her to the ground, bewildered as she asked, "What was that for?"

"That loser is John Wick." Joker hissed, glaring over his shoulder at the screen.

"Who?"

Joker snapped to face Harley, her fear overriding the pain she felt in her jaw, pacing his way towards her as he began to detail who they were up against.

John steps onto the elevator, sliding the door shut behind him before it descended down into the containment levels.

"John Wick is a man who makes Deathstroke look mediocre. A man who rivals Black Mask in the underworld. And a man who kills for a master. My question is why is he here?"

"Hun, he's only one guy, why don't we just send some guys to kill him? What about Bane?" Harley asked.

Joker chuckled at Harley before he continued, "John Wick is a man of focus. Commitment. Sheer will. I've heard he's killed three men in a bar...with just a pencil."

"Hun, you've done that, remember?"

"Yeah, as a magic trick and the guy didn't see it coming! He's killed three men with one, who does that?!" Joker shouted, turning from Harley as he mumbled, "Well, Baba Yaga, you're not going anywhere on this island unless I want you to. And that's only when you play ball and let me know what I want."

"Who are you talking to, babe?"

"Get out of my sight, Harley. Make yourself useful and figure out why he's here."

"You've got it, puddin'!" Harley cheered, hopping to her feet and happily strutting out of the room as if nothing happened.

"Well, John-boy, let's see if you really live up to the hype." Joker pondered, switching his view to the holding cells.

John exited the elevator and made his way into the holding cells, a wall of electricity lighting up behind him and at the opposite end of the room. "Welcome to the holding cells, Johnathan! I can't believe I had such an esteemed guest in my hallowed walls without even a spectacle for you. I apologize for the lack of fireworks but let's make up for that with some cheap entertainment. Go play, boys!"

Joker opened three of the cells in the room and three prisoners in gray jumpsuits charged at John. The first attempted to take his head off with a haymaker, John, smashing into his wrist with the butt of his pistol before following up with an elbow to his ear. The man fell to his knee as John took him by the scruff of his shirt and pants and spun him around before flinging him headfirst into his comrade's crotch, dropping them both in a daze. The two injured convicts made eye contact before a single round splattered their blood and brains over one another. John was put on the defensive as the final inmate came swinging at him, managing to get him by the shoulders and launch at him with knees to the gut. John did his best to block the shots with his forearms, taking an opening and stomping and grinding his shoe into the man's barefoot. The inmate howled with pain, stumbling back before John took aim at him. Trying to save his life, the inmate charged John in spite of the pain, attempting to tackle him to the ground as he got his arms around his waist. John countered by ramming the butt of his pistol into the base of the man's neck, sending an electric jolt of pain through his body before he drew his knife from his back pocket. John spun loose from the inmate's grip and took him to the ground in a rear naked choke, knife aimed at his jugular. The inmate kept the leverage with both hands on John's wrist, keeping the blade from his neck. John reversed the leverage and rolled the man onto his stomach, putting his free hand on the back of his head and slowly forcing the man onto the blade. In one final swoop, John retched the knife aside, ripping the man's neck wide open.

"YAWN," Joker taunted, "I can't believe three guys gave you that much trouble, Johnny. How about we prove yourself to me this time? Fresh from Blackgate Correctional Facility, with a combined sentence of 752 years, ding ding ding! It's round two!"

The final cell opened and four men spilled forward. John shot one dead with his final bullet, bringing his arm back and hurling his pistol into the face of the next inmate, breaking his nose and dropping him to a knee as he held his face. John took the man by the wrist and twisted it over his shoulder, hurling the man over his head and making him kick his comrade over the crown of the skull. One unconscious and the other writhing around holding his ribs and face, the final living inmate swiped at John with a jagged shiv, the assassin juking back from each swing. Caught off balance, the inmate managed to kick John in the chest and take him off his feet. The crook rose his foot up and prepared to stomp John to a pulp, his first attempt being met with a knife impaling his foot. John seized the shrieking man by the ankle as he extracted his knife, swiping the other foot of the man out from under him with his free hand. The inmate plummeted forward, John preparing his knife before him in a praying position as the man fell chest-first onto the blade. John rolled the corpse off of him before being punted in the ribs, rolling to his knees before the bleeding convict seized him by the head and attempted to knee him. John blocked the blow with his forearms, inverting the grip on his knife and jamming it into the inmate's stomach. The inmate collapsed onto John's shoulder, John freeing his blade and jamming it into his shoulder blade, the man tensing up in pain as John embraced him. The assassin turned and slammed the man into the ground, burying the blade into his body and the tip protruding from his chest.

"I'd say well done, John, but I'm less than impressed. Out of pity, I'll let you on your way ahead, purely because I want to either see you die or prove to me you are all that you're cracked up to be. Hell, I see why Riddler wastes his time poking the Bat, it's so damn fun to have your competition have to prove themselves to you! Tell Zsasz I said hi!" Joker ranted, signing off with his chilling cackle.

John rolled the corpse over and retrieved his knife, the blade retreating into the handle with the flick of a button. He loosed the empty magazine from his gun and jammed in a fresh one, the moaning of a reawakened inmate having him snap to fire a shot into his forehead, dropping him one final time. John took note of the arrows guiding his way, the electrical barriers turning off but the buzz of the power they held making him hurry through. Following the painted path, screams of terror ahead of the designated path piqued his interest. A man in armor came tearing around the corner, John taking aim at him as he pleaded, "Hey, hey, don't shoot, I'm a cop!"

John lowered his aim as the man continued to question, "Who are you? We gotta get out of here, man, Zsasz is on the loose and he's already taken out most of my men."

"I'm sorry, Zsasz?"

"You must be new here, dude. Look, let's get out of here and I'll explain e-"

The officer was cut off by the slice of metal on flesh, a blade sticking out form his chest. The man's breath grew shallow and labored as he forced himself to look down, then once again up at John as he uttered, "Run."

An arm in an orange sleeve with a thick, iron shackle around the wrist wrapped around his neck, the butcher knife in the hand unzipping his throat before John. A bald, scar-riddled man in sleeves, muay-thai-like shorts, and various shackles and locks looked at John with predatory eyes and a crooked smile. The man retrieved his knife from the corpse with a twist of the handle, revealing his high, trembling voice, "Pleasure to see you here, Mister Wick. Funny, I thought you'd gone quiet. You're no Bat but you'll be the finest addition to my tally thus far. Shall we?"

"Let's." John replied, opening fire on the madman.

Zsasz ducked the shots and retreated down the narrow hall to a separate corridor leading to the patient pacification chamber. John peaked around the corner and immediately had to duck around the corner, a throwing knife flying past his face. "It's not often I miss, John, don't waste your luck and leave while you still can."

John burst around the corner and began opening fire, only for Szasz to duck into the holding room down the hall. John barreled ahead after him, the electric barrier behind him flipping on as Harley's voice boomed from the speakers, "Ha, gotcha, Johnny! Have fun with Zsasz, I'm sure he'll take his time with ya. Play nice, will ya, boys."

With that, Zsasz plummeted from the ceiling onto John, tackling the assassin to the floor and straddling his abdomen. Zsasz rose his knives overhead and plunged them down at John, the assassin catching Szasz's wrist with his forearm and jamming his free palm in Szasz's chin, chipping his front teeth and rocking him back. John took Szasz's hands under his arm and pulled him in, striking him repeatedly in the throat with his fist. Satisfied with his work, John rolled over his shoulder and pinned Szasz to the ground, clubbing him across the jaw to further daze him. John wrapped leg around Szasz's left arm and took his wrist under his arm, falling to the side and making his elbow bend at an excruciating angle. John released Szasz to writhe about on the ground, retrieving his pistol just in time to be bum rushed and slammed into the wall. Szasz grabbed John by the hair and slammed his face into the wall, taking advantage of his dazed foe as he whirled him around and threw him into the electric barrier. John was blasted back in a flash of blue, the assassin yelping in pain and collapsing to his back. "Come on, John, submissions in a knife fight? Now you're just asking me to take my time and enjoy your suffering." Szasz lamented, popping his elbow back in place.

John regained his senses just as a knife came soaring at his face, the assassin retching his head to the side as the blade imbedded into the floor. Szasz leapt into the air, hands clasped over his other knife and prepared to finish of John. The assassin brought his knee to his chest and shot his foot into the air, catching Szasz in the chin and sending him crashing onto the back of his head. John retrieved the knife from the ground and, just as Szasz sat up, launched the blade at his face, driving it into his forehead right between his most prominent scars. Szasz's head flopped back, his wild, fixated look remaining on his face. "Oh, you're no fun, Johnny," Harley called out once more, "But, Mister J has a soft spot for ya, so I'll let you be on your way."

The barrier turned off with that, Harley adding, "Be seeing you in the secure treatment transfer, Johnny. Ta-ta."

John was nearly taken to the ground as Szasz wrapped himself around John's shoulders, knife aimed at his heart. John fought and trembled against the killer's efforts, managing to get enough leeway to throw him over his shoulder before him. Szasz slashed at John's shin as soon as he hit the ground, causing the assassin to limp backwards. The madman rolled to his knee and readied his knife, throwing it at John and striking him in the shoulder. The assassin lost another step as Zsasz charge in to finish him off, John ripping the knife from his body and hitting Zsasz's knife in his head with a front kick. The blow stopped Zsasz in his tracks, half the blade having sunk into his skull as the killer stumbled around aimlessly. John flipped the knife in his hand, catching the blade by the tip and whipped into it Zsasz's chest, sinking all the way to the handle. Shock overcame Zsasz's face, his hands cupping the area around his punctured chest. Unable to come to terms with his imminent demise, Szasz was taken by the back of the head and slammed face-first into the wall, the entire knife having sunk into his skull. The corpse slid to its stomach, John regaining his pistol once more before strolling back to the marked path, panting, and checking the directory for where Harley told him to head.

Opting for the route through decontamination, John was met with the horrified screams of the men within. A green, wafting gas filled the room, a man slamming up against the glass and pounding on it, begging to be freed. Through his catcher-like helmet, John could see a manic smile on the man's face, tears strolling down his cheeks as he began to uncontrollably laugh, sliding out of view as a blast door sealed itself over the window. John stared in annoyance at the sealed window, sighing to himself, "I guess I'm going back through the holding cells, then."

The latches flung off and the door parted ways to reveal the Baba Yaga on the other side, John stepping into the room that was little more than an extended platform littered with a few corpses of officers before thick titanium doors and what may as well have been an abyss between them. "Well, John, I can only assume you took care of Szasz, from what Harley said. So, I figured, why not give you a taste of what I had in store for Bats, since you're taking his place and starting to put him out of a job? Shall we?" Joker spoke through the intercom.

The sets of doors split open as a massive metal box suspended by chains was sent to John. The valve on the door began to spiral on its own, the door flinging open to reveal a massive, misshapen human within, bones protruding from his flesh and eyes glowing green. A muscle-bound monstrosity leapt onto the platform. John opened fire on the beast, his rounds sinking into its chest and forehead but to no effect as the beast roared at him and charged. John rolled out of the beast's path and watched as it slammed into a wall, dazing it as it held its head. John took the opportunity to reload his pistol and unload once more on the beast, only for it to back hand him with its massive hand and wrap him around the guard rail. Grunting and struggling to find his footing, John stood up as the beast retrieved a body, turning and flinging at him like a baseball. John sidestepped the corpse, the body smashing through the railing and ragdolling into the darkness. The beast grabbed another body and prepared to hurl it again with a roar, only to cough and sputter as a round sailed into the back of his throat, dropping it to a knee. John charged the beast once again, only for it to suddenly rise and drive its fist into the ground, launching him back from the shockwave of the blow.

Before John could scurry back to his feet, the creature began to meander about, groaning it what he could only assume was pain as it held its head in its massive palms. The beast began to convulse and, in one final pulse, the light left the beast's eyes before it collapsed back. Observing the sprawling monster, John was once more greeted by the Joker's voice, the clown lamenting, "Well, that was unexpected, wasn't it. Note to self, need stronger test subjects. Oh, well, you learn through trial and error, John. I've got no use for you right now, I'm sure I can reach you when I do. You just explore and enjoy the place, John, don't worry about the clean up, we've got a guy just chomping at every bit we give him in the cellar."

Just as the transmission ended, one of the observation rooms' barriers switched off and a guard rushed out, praising, "Oh, thank God, someone else is still alive in here. What's your name? Is Zsasz still running around out there?"

"He's taken care of. And we'll exchange names if you can get me out of here and point me to any other building to find Joker. And don't say we go through decontamination, it's being...fumigated." John replied.

"Oh, great, that's where we were holding all of our wounded. Well, we just gotta get back to the elevator, head to the surface, and, in all honesty, he could be anywhere. Just gotta breach and clear, I guess."

"Sounds like a plan, that got any ammo?" John asked, gesturing to his rifle.

"Yeah, I've got a few spare mags, too. Why, you need any?"

"No," John began, checking his magazine before placing it back in, "I'm good."

The newly formed duo made their way down the halls, the guard asking, "So, look, I know I'm kind of indebted to you for saving my ass but who are you? Seriously, Batman got taken out but I've never even seen you. Only a man with a death wish would be on this island right now. Why are you in Arkham?"

"Let's just say I have business to take care of."

"What, did Joker kill your family? Wife? Dog?"

"No," John said, stopping in his tracks to stare the man down, "somebody else beat him to it."

John continued on his path, the man following nervously behind after he managed to shake off his stare. "Hey, I know I'm just being a pest and holding you back but let's just cool down and recoop, man. The name's Jamie, been a guard here for two years last month. Heh, I'm sure you've heard all about this place and are wondering why I'd even take a job here with the history it's got?"

"No." John replied bluntly.

"Oh...o-kay then. So what's your story?"

John rolled his eyes, merely responding, "I'm John Wick."

The guard froze in his tracks, a chill running down his spine as those words processed through his ear. "Oh...alright...say no more."

John replied with a thumbs up, the guard keeping his distance until they reached the elevator. The duo piled in and John tapped the button, the scissor doors shutting and the cables jolted to life, lurching before taking them up. "You know, all the guys in here talk about you. So, how much of what they say about you is true?" Jamie pondered.

John was interrupted as the Joker's unnerving faced came on the screens in each corner, finally giving the assassin a look at his target. "Ah, good to see ya again, John, and, look, you've made a friend. Well, I don't mean to be a third wheel or go back on my offers but this is one route I can't let you take right now. But don't worry, that clean-up guy I told you about in the basement," Joker stated, producing a detonator, "I'll let ya meet him."

With a press of his thumb, a bomb exploded on the pulleys of the elevator, sending them into freefall, all the while Joker's maniacal laugh filled their ears until they smashed into bedrock.