Chapter 9

5:00 AM, it had taken Bruce quite the fight to convince Joker that he had to take back Nygma's body to the Batcave without him in order to perform the autopsy. It goes without saying, that the detective was not looking forward contacting his partner to let him know that his postmortem examinations were all inconclusive. He decided to move on to the boxes and computer.

Overall he found out that Riddler had been in control for quite a while now of the security system in Arkham, using small customized gadgets for simple tasks such as stopping the cameras and electricity and using bigger or his computer for more complex ones, like modifying footage's contents. That would explain the break outs, the sneaking in of the drugs and everything related to such events.

A lot of other things pointed toward him being the creator of the clown's glasses and other items. This could mean that other members of the gang were in possession of such equipment.

He theorized that his death must have been accidental for he could not see why the gang would have had gotten rid of such a talented and useful person. He did left the note Trust no one to the pale man, but he never acted out as a traitor either. He was hoping to be right because if he was not, than that would surely mean that Harleen and Joker would have been next. After all, they did not seemed as useful as Nygma and were to two most likely to betray the rest of the gang.

His investigation was interrupted by his cell phone ringing. An unknown number that did not seemed to be from the region was requesting a video call. The hero placed his hand over his camera in order to hide his cave and identity and answered with curiosity.

Bruce: Hello?

The caller appeared on the screen, a gray hoodie covering his hair, goggles on his eyes with white piercing lenses and his mouth covered by some tight gas mask that was also serving as a voice modifier.

Champion: Don't be shy, Batsy.

He demanded with a voice that sounded like it could only be straight up from hell. Distorted, yet very understandable, low and rusty while echoing of his natural high pitched tone, it sounded very loud while seemingly distant. The dark knight had to give it to the creator, he had nailed down the intimidating factors on his Champion suit.

Bruce: I'm in the Batcave, I'd prefer not showing it to you.

Champion: Now or later, what's the difference? I can see everything.

Bruce: Why are you calling me?

Champion: Everything is easier with this suit... Look!

He raised his left arm in front of the camera, his left glove was equipped with something similar to what Scarecrow had, only his needles were retractable and connected to more than one serum. One of them was a mix of a toned down version of the fear toxin and truth serum, perfect for interrogations, another one was some Devil's breath which he could simply spray to one's face making the person lose all senses and forget the events. He also had a few anti-poison and cures, but his equipment was not the scary part in this case, rather the detonator he was holding in his hand.

Champion: It went a lot faster than I thought it would. So, how about you invite me in for this little autopsy?

Bruce: Don't be unreasonable, Joker! If you press this button you'll kill me!

He laughed.

Champion: Trust me, it takes a lot more than a small explosion to kill you.

Bruce: I'm not wearing my armor and I'm not done with the autopsy, you'll ruin his body!

Champion: Let me in.

The larger man stared at his screen, the dangerous man awaiting for an answer, detonator in hand. However, the pale man was right.

Bruce: No.

It takes a lot more than a small explosion to kill him.

Champion: Take cover.

He pressed the button and nothing happened. So he went on frenetically pressing it again and again.

Champion: You disarmed...

Bruce: I didn't. Joker they're...

Champion: They're playing me!

He hung up to the hero's face before he could even reply that maybe Nygma was the one who disarmed it. He decided to run an entire scan of the man's head and knowing it would take a few hours for the computer to register all the information he went to sleep. It was a Saturday, so he could simply wake up early and continue later.

9:12 AM, he was heading to the cave. He was shocked to find out nothing, absolutely nothing. Edward's body had been stolen. He decided not to inform Alfred that the madman had successfully infiltrated the Batcave without any security going off.

With no time to spare, he started looking through the images his cameras had picked up.

It was ridiculous, the way he easily broke into the manor once more, snooped around with his goggle probably seeing through things, found the entrance, hacked the mechanism with something connected to his right arm and walked into the cave to retrieve the man's body which he simply put into a sport bag and left.

He could not leave as Batman at this hour of the day and he knew it. He asked Alfred without giving him any details to contact him if someone spotted Jackson White any where in the city. He left in a car and headed to his partner's place.

He arrived and knocked repeatedly, to no answers. He shouted for him to come out and a door opened, the neighbor's.

"What is it with you people and screaming!? It's Saturday morning, for fuck sake!" She complained.

"My apologies." He quickly answered and stepped toward her. "Would you know where Mr. White happens to be?"

"Doesn't a man of your status have better things to do?" She questioned.

"He's my employee."

"Your employee?!" She replied surprised and started laughing.

"What? He might not be the greatest person on Earth, but he's a talented scientist."

"No it's not that! I thought you two..." She had a last chuckle. "I thought you were gay."

"Why would you think that?"

"Well that night I caught you two role-playing, you were wearing that Batman costume and he wanted to get spanked... y'know?" The woman explained suppressing her giggles. "Look, I ain't judging you, I'm just sayin'..."

"I just want to know where he might be." He interrupted her before rapidly adding. "And we're not gay."

"I see him by the lake sometime." The billionaire nodded and started walking away, but she continued addressing him. "Don't worry, it's okay to be gay. Plus, as much as I hate him, I can't deny he's one handsome fella. Hmm! Those lips, imma right, Bruce!?"

He ignored her as best as he could and got to his car.

He had searched him the entire day without any success, it was going to be night time soon and he was going to get into his suit and look for him as Batman, which should give him a great advantage.

He was in the cave, alone. He glanced at the two Reds he had and the incomplete ingredient list. The detective could not help himself from continually reflecting about the last year, how so many of his enemies were successfully fleeing or staying under a new created faultless facade. He had lost his edge.

He took a sip out of a water bottle he had on a desk near him, swallowing with it a red pill. He sat down and took a look at the time, 20:55 PM, he was going to calculate how much time it took for these things to work. A mix of shame and guilt were filling his mind, but he knew he needed to take the risk in order to understand better.

21:08 PM, still no effect. His phone began ringing for a video call with the number he now knew to be Joker's. He didn't hide this time, just like his partner who was not wearing the goggles nor mask.

Joker: Why, hello handsome!

Bruce: Where's the body?

Joker: In my bathtub, you should come and take a look.

Bruce: Were have you been?

Joker: At your tower and don't worry, I've already change all the surveillance footage.

The larger rolled his eyes while he sighed.

Joker: Wow! Do me a favor and don't bring that attitude to my place, all right? See you later!

He hung up and the hero headed to one of his expensive car to get to his ally's place.

The shame, guilt and pressure he was feeling earlier started to slowly vanish during the car ride and that's how he knew that the Reds were kicking in. He glanced at the time, 21:22 PM, that was quick. So far, all he felt was a thousand time more relaxed. He did not feel as if anybody else actions were directly his fault, he did not feel as angry and did not feel entirely responsible for this city's fate. He had to remind himself that these emotions were nothing more than drug induced lies. He had to keep in mind that he is Batman, Gotham's sworn vigilante.

He arrived and rapidly followed the pale man to the bathroom. The walls were covered with blood smudges and in the tub with ice, just as he mentioned earlier, was Nygma. His head was shaved and skull cracked open, skin pulled back by elastic bands attached to hooks, the whole thing exposing his brain. His belly was open as well, with the liver completely out of him and stomach sliced. All the other organs were tossed to expose the spine, now broken, inside. It was one hell of an ugly sight and the smell was not making it any easier.

"You should've let me do it." The larger man complained with his hand covering his nose and mouth. "This is sloppy, you ruined it."

"Did not." He replied amused by the man's disgust. "Look closer. Look at his brain and spine."

He obliged and approached the cadaver, starting with his head noticing some small yellowish strings poking out of the gray matter. He did not knew what this was, but it shared similarities with the mushrooms his partner had found in the test subject back at the lab. He directed his attention to the middle of the body. It took some times for him to spot what looked like cotton sticking out of the spine and attaching itself to muscles and blood vessels.

"What's all this?" The hero stepped back.

"Mushrooms." He pointed to the dead man's head. "This is cordyceps, a parasitic fungi that grows on the host's brain in order to control it." He moved his finger to the belly. "And this is mycellium, it can be used by plants as some network transporting nutriments from one plant to another."

"How is this even growing in his body?"

"And in the stomach..." His voice cracked and he cleared his throat ignoring Bruce's question. "The stomach, I found some digested herbs. I don't know how the mushrooms got there, all I know is she overfed them until the brain kind of suffocated trapped into shroom's growth."

"She?" He asked while exiting the repulsive room with the madman following. "You think Ivy did this?"

"Ivy? No!" He answered mocking the detective's deduction. "Ivy makes no mistake when it comes to wildlife. That!" He pointed toward the bathroom, anger rising in his eyes. "That's Harley!"

"What? That doesn't make any sense."

"Sure it does. She operated him, plus the plan was probably that instead of a bomb, they implanted this fungi as a slow acting weapon, killing him without breaking any deal with Penguin." He headed to a cabinet where he started getting a few bottles of chemicals out, turned away from the hero. "I would never have allowed them! And they knew it! She knew it!"

"Changing from a bomb to a fungi makes sense, but I don't think she's the one who did it."

"Why not?!" Joker replied harshly. "After all the time she spent with Weed-Lady, she probably learned a thing or two!" He shouted while stirring a new made solution with a fork.

"Tetch possessed a lot more knowledge about the human brain than any one else in the gang, surely he's the one who processed with the operation."

"They're all guilty... They wasted something great." He placed his hands on the counters and growl lowly. "Something that could've been excellent, I would've..."

Without thinking, the larger man interrupted the pale man as he arrived from behind and caressed his back, grabbing one of his shoulder.

"It's okay, we'll get them."

The clown abruptly got stiff, before he started chuckling, a chuckle that grew into a full blown laughter. He turned to the hero pushing his hand away.

"No touching, baby." He said with arrogance before adding. "You took one."

"I had to try..."

"So you finally admit to be insane?"

"No, I'm just trying it." He responded with frustration. "It does almost nothing to me."

"I can see that." The jester answered with a smirk. "Speaking of seeing, look out the window."

The dark knight cautiously turned to glance outside only to see the Batsignal in the cloud. Without saying anything, he rushed outside. From behind, the smaller man tried to follow, but Bruce was way faster when out of the suit.

"I'm coming with you!" He demanded.

"No!"

"Calm your shit, Jackson!" Yelled out the neighbor.

21:53 PM, he arrived on the roof of the GCPD building where he met with an ordinary cop instead of the commissioner. The police man started explaining the situation.

"A major fight between two gangs is about to take place, we'd normally be able to control the situation but as it turns out they're a lot more dangerous than we thought. They're armed with explosives, RPG, snipers, AK-47, name it, they have it."

"Why didn't you prevent this?"

"We would've, that's why Commissioner Gordon and some men are infiltrating both gangs at this moment, but this is happening suddenly for an unknown reason. They're going to meet in fifteen minutes in a large parking lot to settle this."

"Sounds like a personal problem rather than business going wrong."

The Champion voice interrupted as he stepped out of the shadows frightening the man who was going to point his gun at him, but the dark knight stopped him in mid movement.

"Don't. He's a friend."

"What do you mean by a personal problem?" The cop asked the newest vigilante.

"This is an unorganized fight triggered by irrational anger, probably caused by some drama. Maybe the leader of one gang slept with the other leader's girlfriend and he wants revenge."

"That sounds plausible..."

"Do you have pictures of your coworkers in their disguise?"

Batman asked and the GCPD worker headed to pick up a file from the ground handing it to him.

"Here's all the information you need."

The hero opened it, studying it for less than thirty seconds before handing it back and leaving quickly using his grappling hook and cape to fly through the city.

He glanced behind him noticing a shadowy figure swinging from a building to another, the pale man did not have a cape, instead he used only his grappling hook to swinging himself through the city like Tarzan would using vines in the jungle. The larger man had registered the other man's number and called him while keeping moving forward.

Batman: Why are you here? I said no.

Champion: You're not the boss of me, besides, it'll go faster with my help.

Batman: Go away.

He heard that classic mocking laughter echoing through his cowl.

Batman: Fine, but let's do it my way. We'll take care of securing the roofs of nearby buildings from snipers and RPG and then I'll move to the ground.

Champion: How about...

The vigilante landed on a building near the soon battlefield and a voice from behind him continued the sentence.

"I take care of the ground while you take care of the roof? We're fast enough to do it this way."

"You don't know who the..."

"I could spot a pig from a real criminal with my eyes close! Why do you think they never infiltrated my gang?"

He turned to his new sidekick, eyeing his well made armor. The suit really was focusing more on stealth and agility rather than tank-like protection, a great choice for a man of his frame. Furthermore, instead of a utility belt, his gadgets were directly linked to the suit, making it harder for foes to disarm him.

"Agreed." Batman said.

He closed in, activating his detective vision, spotting five snipers and two RPG. He decided to go with the most destructive first, with one positioned from inside an unlit apartment, pointing the weapon out of the window and the other on top of a closed restaurant. The one in the apartment was not alone, a sniper was in the window next to his. He charged for the RPG, knocking him against the wooden floor taking him out instantly, he then ran into the next room knocking out the sniper with a forceful punch. He moved to the roof where the other criminal was located, attacking him from behind.

Batman: RPG are all down.

Champion: Get ready to work faster.

Before he could ask what this meant, he watched as both gangs, with the infiltrating agents, started arriving in the parking lot, armed to the teeth. In no time he headed for two snipers next to one another and before he could even attacked he heard an exploding noise coming from the ground.

He took out the men while glancing at the parking lot. He was glad to see it getting filled up with smoke, which must have been Joker's move.

The dark knight took care of the remaining snipers, glimpsing from time to time at the battlefield where the pale man was gracefully moving through the violence, confusion and total chaos, taking down most criminals without even scratching the GCPD workers.

Arriving to the ground battle, the smoke had completely faded away and the fight had taking a much more intense pace with the enemies shooting at each other, the two vigilantes crushing them and the police men trying their best to participate without infringing their own code.

When it was all over, the hero approached Commissioner Gordon who was working with his men to take the ones who survived the brutal battle into custody.

"All my men made it out alive, thank you. Who is he?" He asked referring to the Champion.

He would have answered, but he was vigorously pushed by his ally, turning around in wonder he noticed him taking a bullet to his chest. The suit blocked it, but he stepped back from the impact. An incompetent sniper was still hiding in another apartment, surely he must have been late and that is why no one had spotted him. Using his grappling hook, the smaller man headed to the window where, in the dark, he disarmed the man and dragged him further in the shadows.

Using his detective vision he watched as his partner held the man to the ground with his foot on his chest and kept the position. He decided to get closer for this must have been an interrogation. He kept hidden, entering the room next to his, watching through the walls an listening.

"... You Bat-freaks never kill, so why should I talk? I'm not scared of pain, you ain't got shit on me!" The thug mocked the Champion.

"Nothing besides your life." He responded.

"And you won't take it!" He continued, trying to laugh at the dangerous man who was pressing on his chest.

"Well, frankly..." He placed his masked down to his neck and moved his goggles up, revealing his face to the criminal who started shaking. "That's up to you."

"J-J-Joker...?"

"Your life is mine." The victim nodded terrified of the monster standing above him. "Now jump out the window."

"No! Please no..."

"It's the second floor, you'll survive!"

He let go and the man got up, walked toward the window. He turned around looking at the clown once more.

"Land on your feet." He ordered while placing his goggles back.

He jumped and the cracking sounds of his legs was followed by painful screams. The hero was uncomfortably impressed by Joker's intimidation techniques. He joined him in the dark room. The pale man carefully grabbed a side of the detective's face.

"He almost had you."

"Joker..." He said grabbing his hand. "Please, don't touch me..." Slowly, he pushed it away.

The jester did not reply, placing his mask back on his face while the other man headed to leave, but was stopped by his ally grabbing his arm.

"Where are you going?"

"To the cave, get back to cleaning your place."

"I still have ten hours before the neighbor can start smelling him." He let go of him and added. "Your butler won't know."

22:33 PM, both men are in the Batcave. Bruce had demanded Alfred to not disturb him tonight for he was to be making a lot of researches and wanted to concentrate.

He was sitting at the computer, with the other man placed next to him, on his desk, just like at work.

"You know, Batsy, first time I came in here I didn't get the chance to tell you how much I love the décor!" The detective ignored the joyful man. "I mean, this place is so you! Unlike all the fancy rooms in your manor and tower. This cave's got your vibe, your essence. It's dark, mysterious and so full of..."

"Shit!" The hero exclaimed while almost jumping out of his chair.

"Language, Bats!" The clown mocked.

"I was hoping to be wrong..."

"Wrong about what?"

"The test subject, Nygma, the mushrooms... How did I not understood earlier?"

"What's going on?" The pale man asked while getting off the desk.

"The Reds are eggs! That's why I couldn't find which chemicals were forming the liquid part of it, because these were not normal components, but a living thing."

"Like what?"

"Genetically modified mycellium and cordyceps taking place in the host body to rearrange a few thing in his brain and then slowly transmitting the principal medicinal component of the drug. That's why it's so strong." The jester kept grinning, so far showing no worries about these information. "How many do you need to take per day or week?"

"Once a month."

"What happens if you skip it?" The dark knight questioned, concerned of his own fate.

"I don't know." He chuckled, but seemed getting stressed. "I need to call Harley."

"What?! Why now?"

"She probably knew, plus she's the only one clearly immune to the fungi parasitic effects. Remember? She ate one and no consequences followed."

"I think you should arrange a meeting with the hole gang on the subject. Make them realize that if somebody ever stop them, they'll all..."

"How many do you have left?" The lunatic rapidly asked.

"One." He replied to the man staring back at him with a smirk that could not hide the fear building up in his expression. "Maybe it's the fungi that dies and not the host. It lives of the Reds, it'll surely deceased without it."

"You're living of the Reds too, now." The smaller man pointed out and took a phone out of small compartment of the suit on his right triceps. "What should I tell the gang?"

"You need to find a cure or legalize the narcotic before someone stops you." He instructed while caressing his black hair, head bowed down wondering how bad it was under his skull. "You could also ask about Nygma."

"Bruce..." He looked up to the madman who had stopped smiling. "You can put an end to everything."

His heart sank as he pictured himself and the man in front of him, in synchronization with so many, falling for the last time in month or so. Generations of murderers, anti-hero, lunatics and criminals collapsing, leaving behind a cleanse Gotham. Having nothing but their own foolishness to blame for their inglorious decline. He could easily imagine, after the mourning of them, the entire city rising into something greater than what any of them would have come to knew in their complete lifetime.

He could put an end to everything.