"Well, if I were a creepy dead headless man, this is definitely where I would hang out," commented J, as they all four stood in front of the windmill.
"So who's going in first?" asked Ivy.
"Fine, I will, cowards," said J at last, when nobody spoke or made a move to enter.
He threw open the door and ducked under the low lintel, to which Ivy commented dryly, "Watch your head."
"Mr. J!" screamed Harley, as they entered to see her tied to the mill wheel which ground the grist. It wasn't moving at that moment, but Crane had a feeling that was only a matter of time.
"I got you, sweets!" exclaimed J, racing over to her. The Headless Batman suddenly stepped out of the shadows, blocking his path with his sword drawn.
"Craney, give him the box!" snapped J, rounding on him. Crane obeyed, approaching the Batman and holding out the box. He took it and pocketed it, but kept his sword raised.
"Now let Harley go," demanded Crane.
The Headless Batman held out his hand again. "I don't have anything else of yours – the letter is in there," retorted Crane. The Batman kept his hand held out, and the realization slowly dawned on Crane. "Oh, now you want your head, is that it?" he demanded, reaching for his bag.
"Don't give it to him!" snapped J. "Not until we get Harley back!"
Crane hesitated, and the Headless Batman suddenly pulled a lever next to him, which sent the wheel Harley was tied to turning. At one end, a large hammer pounded the wheel, which would ordinarily be used for grinding up grist and grain, but which would, in a few seconds, be grinding up Harley.
"Mr. J!" screamed Harley, as she struggled to free herself. "Help!"
"Here, take the head!" exclaimed Crane, throwing it at the Headless Batman. "Now stop the wheel!"
The Headless Batman moved away from the lever, holding up the skull and placing it upon his shoulders. J took that opportunity to run past him, racing toward the wheel and leaping onto it.
"Hurry!" shrieked Harley, as the pounding hammer came closer and closer to them. J tore his knife through the ropes, grabbing Harley around the waist and leaping off the wheel just as the hammer came down where she had been. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and then their attention was drawn by a horrible gurgling. They saw the Headless Batman's head reattaching itself as the muscles and skin regrew onto the bone. Finally, he turned to face them, his masked visage drawn into a malevolent scowl.
"I'd like to thank you all for coming here, and gathering in one place," he muttered, raising his sword. "It makes it that much easier to kill you, and saves me the trouble of hunting you down. And once you're all dead, everyone who knows my secret will be gone. The letter is back in my hands, and I will bury it somewhere where it will be safe for all eternity. And so will I."
"Safe from whom?" demanded Crane. "Why does preserving that letter mean so much to you that you're willing to murder for it?"
The Batman studied him. "I can tell you didn't pay attention to Blackfire's sermons," he murmured. "For he would have told you that the deepest circle of hell is reserved for traitors. You're all traitors, all you Americans who took up arms against your rightful ruler…"
"Hey, no taxation without representation, pal!" snapped J. "Or at all, if you ask me – the government has no right to rob hard-working people of their money like that! And people call me a thief!"
"The letter isn't about American treachery – it's about your treachery," said Dent. "You were considering betraying your own cause, and that letter is proof of that. That's why you need to keep it safe – otherwise it'll be evidence damning you to the deepest circle of hell, is that it?"
"You actually think I would betray my own cause like that?" demanded the Batman. "I'm not as weak as you, Harvey! The letter was bait for you – I was going to lure you here and kill you as punishment for your betrayal, but before I could finish it, I was ambushed by an American militia. I cut them down, but they distracted me enough that I never finished the letter before the battle, and then I never finished it at all because I died. Turns out you betrayed me before I could betray you. But it's what you deserved for turning soft, for siding with traitors. Though I'm glad to see there was some cosmic justice in that your treachery was burned onto your face forever."
"So the letter is evidence you were planning on betraying your friend," murmured Crane. "Which is worse than betraying your principles in the grand scheme of things, isn't it?"
"Not to me," snapped the Batman. "But to those who judge us in the afterlife, yes. I knew I could never face them, could never go to my ultimate rest, while there was a chance the letter would be discovered, and my betrayal brought to light. But as long as I silenced everyone I met, everyone who could have stolen it and read it, I'd be safe. I would haunt Gotham Hollow until I got that letter back, and then I could be at peace, safe and secure in the knowledge that nobody knew of my intended betrayal."
"So this was all just to save yourself a couple circles of hell?" asked J. "That seems kinda pointless. I mean, how much difference is there between the murdering circle and the treachery circle?"
"You'd be surprised," retorted the Batman. "And you'll find out soon enough."
He pulled another lever, and several bags of grain dropped down in front of the door, blocking it. "So, whose head shall I add to my collection first?" he asked, gesturing upward.
They looked up to see several heads mounted on spikes lining the walls of the windmill, along with bats hanging from the ceiling, their beady red eyes glaring down at them. "Well, I vote for Harvey," voiced J.
"I'm not going down without a fight," growled Dent. "You've become what you always fought against, Batman. I killed you once, and I can kill you again."
"This clown has tried every trick in the book," retorted Batman, gesturing at J. "I can't be killed, not by you or anyone else. But I know for a fact you can be."
He started forward, but was instantly seized by plants erupting out of the floor. "We need a way out – I can't hold him for long!" exclaimed Ivy.
"There!" said Crane, pointing up the stairs to where the windmill's fan blades turned. "We can get out there and ride the sails down!"
Everyone raced past the Batman toward the stairs, just as he managed to disentangle himself from the plants. He chased after them until they reached the landing which was level with the severed heads. Suddenly, a swarm of bats flew out at them, blocking their path and blinding them. J grabbed one of the heads, throwing it at the swarm and shouting, "Here, vampire bats, there's a lotta blood on these!"
"I don't think they're vampire bats, as those are native to Central and South America..." began Crane.
"Who cares? It's working!" exclaimed Harley, as J kept throwing heads which seemed to disperse the bats.
"Harvey, duck!" shouted Ivy, as Batman's blade suddenly sliced toward his head. Dent dodged down, while J changed his target and began throwing the heads at Batman.
"Keep running!" he shouted, throwing more heads. Ivy and Dent obeyed, while Harley tried to get back to J, but Crane grabbed her arm, dragging her up the stairs despite her struggling.
"Let go of me!" she shrieked. "I have to help him!"
"Harley, no!" shouted Crane, as she broke away from him. He lunged forward, trying to grab her, and accidentally knocked both of them into the railing which snapped, plunging them down to land on the turning grist wheel again.
Crane struggled to his feet, seizing Harley to pull her out of the way of the pounding hammer. "Harley!" shouted J, jumping down through the gap to join her. He was swiftly followed by the Batman.
"Get her off this crazy thing!" shouted J, as he dodged the Batman's blade.
"I won't leave you!" cried Harley, as Crane fought to pull her off the turning wheel. It was difficult to maintain balance, and they both slipped off, landing on the bags of flour next to it. J prepared to join them, leaping off the wheel just as Batman brought his sword down. The metal sparked against the hammer, and the sparks flew onto the sacks of flour, which caught fire in an instant.
"Hurry! It don't take much smoke to die from inhaling it!" gasped J, grabbing Harley's hand and running toward the stairs again. Crane followed, coughing and gasping for air. He turned to see the Batman through the smoke and flames, calmly striding after them.
"The fire won't kill him – I've tried that!" shouted J. He and Harley raced up to join Dent and Ivy, who grabbed on to the sails of the windmill and rode them down to a safe level to jump to the ground. "Nothing in this life can kill him, but we can get safely back to the church if we hurry up!"
Crane suddenly had a flash of inspiration. "No, nothing in this life," he murmured. "But maybe in the one hereafter."
He held up the letter, and a look of panic came over the Batman's face. "You said it was in the box!" he shouted, taking out the box and desperately putting in the code to find it empty.
"I lied," retorted Crane. He held the letter out toward the fire. "This proof of your treachery will damn you if it goes to the same place you're going. And I suspect it is."
"Give it to me!" shouted the Batman, leaping forward to try to grab it. But Crane had already tossed it into the burning inferno, which consumed it.
"No!" gasped Batman. "No!" he shouted, as his body began to simmer and smoke. Tendrils of flame shot out of him, gradually consuming him. "No!" he shrieked, as his body slowly roasted into ashes, which settled in a pile on the ground.
"I did it," whispered Crane, smiling triumphantly. "I did…"
"Get the hell outta there before the smoke suffocates you!" shouted J, interrupting his gloating. "Or don't – see if I care," he added, as he leapt out the window with Harley in his arms.
Crane growled. "He couldn't just give me one moment to savor my victory against the forces of darkness and the powers of evil," he muttered, racing up the stairs and climbing out to freedom. "Unbelievable."