Madness isn't a state of mind, it's a place.

Note: Yes it's been a while I know, but here ya' go! here's the next bit! :)

Jester grinned as she was led back to her cell.

She knew that Eddie would be having fun, flirting with Doc Terry, having his fun making a mystery out of something quite simple.

Oh, she was so happy she got to be in it, usually he wouldn't let her anywhere near his plans.

She knew she wouldn't be in her cell for too long, soon she would be let out for recreational period, which she would usually spend with Eddie, but who could she be with now, considering that Eddie now had a new person and game to entertain himself with?

Jester tapped her chin in thought. Who did she want to see?

Then she snapped her fingers as her eureka moment struck. She wanted to see Jervis!

"Hatter's always happy to see me, ha, I'll be a little queen of clubs I can tell!"

With a happy bounce and a skip she jumped out of her cell and ran as fast as she could to the gardens.

"Jervy, Jervy! Jervy!" she cried running through the corridors and dodging all the guards and Doctors as she ran. "Jervy!"

"Jester, what the hell are you doing?" cried Cash as he watched the black and white girl run past him.

"I'm going to see Jervy, he's in the gardens right? Well, I'mma going there ta' see him! Ya' know he calls me 'little queen of clubs'? I love it!" she shouted running round the corner.

"Jervy!"

"Little Queen of Clubs!"

Jester grinned widely as she spotted the huge top hat and the tea party that was set right next to the grinning man.

"How ya been Jervy?" asked the monochrome being.

"Quite fine my dear, quite fine like always. Though I hear there are strange days coming," Jervis shivered a little before frowning.

"Strange days?" Jester frowned. "What does that mean?"

"My dear Queen of Clubs, I can not tell you that, you must ask the Dormouse."

"The Dormouse?"

"Oh yes, the Dormouse speaks in many riddles, he talks little sense, but makes perfect sense."

Jester frowned. "Oh Eddie! Yeah he speaks in riddles," Jester paused and tapped her chin. "Strange days?"

"Like I said before, talk to the Dormouse, he will explain it all, now I do not wish to talk any more of Strange days that are coming, good day little Queen of Clubs!" Jervis snapped.

Jester blinked before getting to her feet and running off again.

Why had Jervis snapped? Sore subject maybe?

She sighed and walked towards the mansion only to be greeted by Edward.

"Ah, there you are. It went perfectly. Mist still doesn't know it's me."

Jester paused before frowning. "Eddie I got a question."

"Don't you always?" Edward muttered pocketing his hands and walking towards the Intensive Treatment lobby.

"What does Jervis mean when he talks about Strange days?"

Edward stopped in his tracks. "W- what?"

"Strange days? What does it mean?" Jester asked again.

Edward turned to her and grabbed her shoulders. "What did Jervis say about Strange days?"

"Umm… well he said he said that he heard strange days were coming… something about you knowing what I would be talking about and when I tried to ask him what strange days was, he had a huge rogues equivalent of a hissy fit," Jester explained fiddling with her hands as Edward stared at her right in the eyes. It felt like he was trying to read her soul, get every secret by staring into her jade green orbs.

Edward looked up in thought for a moment. "He said they'd be coming back?"

"Yeah, he said that you knew about it, so…" she trailed off, eyebrow raised in anticipation.

Edward looked around Arkham. Was it any coincidence that after the riot Joker started, people like Bolton were coming back, the Warden was now running for mayor and there was rumours that he was going to building a new high security prison in the heart of Gotham.

"Hugo Strange," Edward whispered.

"Hugo Strange?" questioned Jester frowning. "What do you mean?"

"There was a Professor here, Professor Hugo Strange. He was a psychiatrist here, but he liked to experiment," Edward explained.

"Experiment?" Jester frowned even further. "On what?"

"Us. The patients. At first he took patients that had been here so long no one would notice if they randomly jumped off deadman's point or lost it completely. It was expected really, but then he started to look at others, rogues primarily. He liked to talk to Jervis a lot because he was and still is, easy to manipulate as is Freeze. He even performed little mind games with myself. All of it was to get in here," Edward tapped his temple. "Try to unlock the secrets of Gotham's rogues and then crush them with it. His goal in the end was to take out Joker, to study him and work him out once and for all. He never did though."

"How come?"

"The other Doctors finally noticed. They also noticed a man called Lyle Bolton, a guard who used to beat the patients and do other inhumane things, rumour was he helped Strange despose of some of the patients who didn't live through there ordeal," Edward shrugged. "Before they could make any arrests, both Bolton and Strange disappeared, Bolton moved to another part of the US and Strange was rumoured to have left the country, even to a desert land for some odd reason, no one knows where though."

"But now they're back?" asked Jester.

"Bolton's already here, I saw him just a few minutes ago, but if Jervis said Strang days are returning, he can only be talking about Hugo Strange."

"But why would they hire them again? After that rocky past?" asked Jester, she was very confused.

"The Warden hired them," Edward sighed. "Part of me thinks this is all to do with the election."

"The mayor election?"

"Yes."

"But why?"

"There are rumours circling the asylum that the Warden will be building a brand new high security super prison. The Warden needs to win the election to do it."

"And he's hiring Bolton and Strange to help him?"

"I think Strange has something over the Warden," Edward muttered. "Have you seen him?"

"Who? Strange?"

"No, the Warden. He stalks the halls, I've seen him watching all of us. It's like he wants to kill us and he probably will, he's already done it."

"What?!"

"That patient they were brining out, the one that had been beaten to death, I read the report and it said he had been beaten up by fists, when I looked at the injuries it was clearly made by a cane."

"And the Warden used to carry a cane," Jester finished.

"Exactly."

"But why build a new prison?"

"Look around you Jester," Edward gestured to the grounds and the docks. "Arkham's dying, the Joker's riot is simply the first domino in a chain that will change Gotham forever. Joker is now dying, the space for top criminal is now up for grabs, despite what the clown may think. What do you think that will do?"

"Start a gang war," Jester muttered. "Which will cause panic in the underworld right?"

"Of course it would, small time criminals will try to gain a rep, the city would be utter chaos, crime will escalate, break outs increase-,"

"New prison is needed," Jester muttered. "That's why the Warden won't let Joker have any Doctors, he wants him get worst so there's a reason for the prison, a reason why he should be elected."

"And don't you find it a little funny how all the Warden's competition have suddenly disappeared or they've dropped their part or the ones that stay stop doing so many campaigns?"

"It's almost like Sharp's being made to win."

"He is," Edward concluded. "But why? There's something about the prison that holds some importance and for some odd reason I have a felling Strange is connected."

"But what can we do about it Eddie?" asked Jester frowning slightly.

Edward sighed. "We can't do anything, but there is someone who can."

"For those of us not as gifted as yourself, could you please explain to my feeble minded sole who that is exactly?" asked Jester, folding her arms and pouting.

"Well, my dear little Mystery of course."

"Ya' gonna get Doc' Terry mixed up in this, are ya' sure that's wise?"

"Mist can take care of herself. Trust me she can. But we can't if we are defenceless, we need an inside player, someone who would be over looked if they were seen in the records room."

"Someone like a Doctor, ah… now I get it," Jester said grinning, while snapping her fingers in the process.

"Exactly," Edward smirked before walking on.

"But how ya' gonna convince her it's a good idea?"

"I have my ways. Plus, a little word here or there to the others would be quite good, if a majority of us talk about it and make it an issues, well, you know and I know, majority rules."

Jester nodded before frowning. "Makes ya' wonder why they want to build a new super prison away from everyone else, with all of use mixed in there… meh, it'll go to pot."

"Of course it will, but I don't think that's the end game for Strange. There's something else. Besides as Jervis once told me, Madness is not a state of mind, Madness is a place."

"And there is no method to this madness I can tell ya," Jester muttered.

Edward nodded in agreement before glaring at Sharp who was talking to Doctor Cassidy, Sharp glared back.

There was something going on at Arkham, something hidden behind the cracking paint and peeling wall paper. If you washed away the blood and cleaned the windows so you could actually see, Edward knew that everything would be quite clear. All the blood and gore, the horror stories, they were just decoys to hide the real and very deadly plot going on behind closed doors of certain Doctors.

But a deadly plot for whom? Now there's the riddle.

But deep in the heart of Gotham, lied an old psychiatric help office. A place for troubled minds to go or to this person's point of view, manipulative minds.

Hugo Strange smiled as the young boy walked into his office. Danny's hair was pushed to the side of his face, his eyes were sunken in and hollow.

"Danny. It's good to see you. Tell me, how have you been."

"I've been better," Danny hissed.

"Do not worry Danny, you will get the justice you deserve," Strange explained, smiling slightly as the boy glared, Danny slammed his fists on the table. The force was enough to knock a few things over, even cause Strange's pen to roll towards the edge of the desk.

"I do not want justice," Danny spat, rising from his seat, making himself look bigger. "I want revenge!"

"Sit down Danny," Strange said in a commanding voice, causing the boy to sit automatically.

"Your temper needs work. Jessica Turner will use that against you," Strange hissed.

"I am not afraid of a black and white clown. The Joker is dying any way, no need to get back at him."

Strange sighed and rubbed his temples. "I see. Sorrow is another matter though, is she not?"

"Do not even mention her!"

A smile found it's way onto his face. "Of course Danny. There is one more thing I wish to ask of you?"

"And what's that?"

"Are you ready?"

"Yes."

"Very direct as usual," Strange muttered before he pulled a draw from his desk and pulled out a key and a map, with an address. "You'll find everything you need here."

"Thank you Professor Strange," Danny said as he took the objects handed to him, before getting up to leave.

"Anytime," Strange said as he steepled his hands and studied the boy as he opened the door. "Anytime at all, Vendetta."

T.B.C: