November 2nd
1:32 AM
Batcave

Bruce Wayne, still in costume but with his cowl pulled back, sat at the computer in the Batcave, looking through some documentation on Anarky. Robin and Blackbat then approached, both unmasked.

"Okay so I'm a little confused on something. I thought Anarky was still in prison." Tim commented.

"The first and second Anarky are both still in prison. This is a new one. Unlike criminals like the Joker, Two Face, or Poison Ivy, Anarky isn't a single person but a group. The most influential member of the group assumes the identity of Anarky and makes the arrangements for their bombings and protests. Defeat one, another will eventually take his place. The first Anarky I defeated was years ago when I was first starting out, the same night I had my first encounter with the Joker. The second one was defeated years later, not long after Jason had assumed the mantle of Robin. In both cases, Anarky was an individual who had been left either disgruntled or disenfranchised by society in some way." Bruce explained as he looked through the files.

"Any leads so far?" Tim asked.

"One possible shows up. Oracle ran a search for Mayor Hill and any connections he might have to the Hillman's clothing store brand. Before he became Mayor, Hill was the prosecuting attorney against a man named Peter Weems who broke into the mall and vandalized over fifty thousand dollars' worth of merchandise in the Hillman's store, claiming that the store was guilty of outsourcing jobs to foreign countries and running sweatshops to manufacture the clothes at a lower price instead of hiring Unionized American workers. He was arrested for breaking and entering, destruction of private property, vandalism, and assaulting a police officer, and sentenced to two years in prison plus ten years' probation for his crime." Bruce explained.

"Sounds like our guy. Has a grudge against Hill so he has motive." Tim commented but Bruce wasn't sure.

"Unlikely. He has a strong alibi for the bomb in the mall. He's dead." Bruce explained, startling both of his sidekicks.

"What? Really?" Tim asked.

"After he got out of jail, Weems tried to organize a dock worker's riot in protest over the right-to-work legislation the state eventually passed. As a result, his son was killed in the rioting and Weems blamed the state for contributing to his son's death. His attorney copped an insanity plea on the basis that Weems was a paranoid schizophrenic and was sent to Arkham. He was later killed during the Joker's attempted takeover in 2009." Batman explained, pulling up a file showing a headless corpse in an orange Arkham inmate jumpsuit. Both sidekicks grimaced at the sight.

"Eugh. Let me guess, Killer Croc's handiwork?" Tim asked.

"Most likely." Bruce said as he pulled up another file on Weems.

"But I'm not ruling him out. Deaths can be faked. I should know, and Weems does fit the profile for Anarky. He was a Union Organizer whose first reaction to any perceived injustice against the working class was to strike or riot. He encouraged physical threats of violence against whatever business executives ran the companies whose workers he represented in collective bargaining negotiations. He would make outrageous demands of the companies in the negotiations and refused to budge on any of them. Even if it was one cent less than his demand, he would attempt to lead the workers into a strike over that one cent. Anyone who didn't strike was met with hostility and usually violence. Strikebreakers were shot at on more than one occasion." Bruce explained.

"Yikes. Wayne Enterprises wasn't one of those companies was it?" Tim asked but Bruce shook his head.

"No. Fortunately W.E. has been fairly good to its employees. I've made sure of that." Bruce replied.

"14, B.P.2.W" Cass tapped out in Morse code. Her message translated as "Number 14th Best Place to Work."

"Fair point." Tim replied.

"So Weems, if he's still alive, would definitely have motive against Mayor Hill. There could also be motive against Congressman Hunter since he sided with the right-to-work supporters in the State Legislature. But that doesn't explain why he'd want to see Candidate Ronson killed." Bruce said as Tim looked towards Cass.

"Cass, you're a Ronson supporter. Got any ideas about why anyone would want him dead?" Tim asked but Cassandra shrugged.

"We'll pick this up tomorrow. Joker and Anarky have made their statements for today so they'll likely be laying low until tomorrow night at the earliest, preparing for tomorrow night's activities." Bruce said as he turned his chair towards them, standing up.

"One more thing. I want the two of you to be mindful whenever you go up against Wild Card. She's a former classmate of yours so it's possible she could identify either one of you. I say this more for her sake than yours." Bruce said, confusing the two.

"Hers?" Cassandra signed.

"Yes. The Joker, for his own insane reasoning, insists on preserving my anonymity. Numerous times, he's had me at his mercy and yet he has never removed my mask. Even when he killed Jason, he never peeked. Back when Dick was Robin, our identities were discovered by a pair of criminals known as Wrath and Scorn. When they announced that they would reveal our identities to the highest bidder, Joker killed them and destroyed the evidence to silence them. I fear he might do the same to Carde if she ever identifies the two of you." Bruce said as Tim and Cassandra looked at each other and nodded understandingly.

"Right. We'll be careful." Tim said as Bruce gave a nod.

"Good. Get to bed, both of you. We're going to have a long night ahead of us tomorrow." Bruce said, the two both turning and heading for the changing rooms, leaving Bruce alone in the cave although he was quickly joined by Alfred.

"This election season is going to be quite interesting, wouldn't you say sir?" Alfred asked.

"Every election season is interesting, but I could do without this kind of interesting." Bruce said, rising from his seat and pulling on his mask.

"Are you not finished for the evening sir?" Alfred asked, confused.

"There's something I need to look into. It shouldn't involve any fighting. The person I need to talk to is an ally." Bruce said as he headed for the Batmobile.

"Shall I inform Masters Tim and Cassandra of your absence?" Alfred asked.

"If you would. Let them know I'm heading to Arkham." Batman said as he climbed into the Batmobile.

2:12 AM
Arkham Asylum

Chief of Security, Aaron Cash had just returned from his nightly patrol of Arkham Asylum's various wards. He was sitting down at his desk with a cup of coffee when he heard footsteps on the floor behind him. He turned around and came face to face with the Batman.

"God! Man you've gotta stop sneakin' up on people like that Batman." Aaron said, putting his hook hand to his chest.

"I need information, Cash. A former patient killed during the Joker's rampage through the asylum in 2009. Peter Weems." Batman said as Aaron took a sip of his coffee.

"Weems…any aliases?" he asked.

"None on record. He would've been admitted by the state, diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic. He was likely killed by your old friend Killer Croc." Batman explained as Cash shifted his weight uncomfortably at the mention of Killer Croc.

"What makes you say that?" Cash asked. Batman quietly produced a photograph of the headless victim. Aaron grimaced in disgust.

"Yeah, that's croc's work alright." Aaron commented, subtly pushing away his coffee mug.

"I need access to the records pertaining to the autopsy on Weems's body after the Asylum was retaken." Batman said as Aaron rose from his seat, reaching for his keyring.

"Autopsy reports are kept in the medical wing. Doc Sanchez is workin' tonight." Aaron replied, leading Batman into the asylum.

…

A few minutes later Batman, Aaron, and Doctor Maria Sanchez were in the filing room of the medical ward. Doctor Sanchez was thumbing through a drawer full of files.

"I vaguely remember that autopsy, Batman. After the Joker's rampage, there were so many dead, we had a major backlog of autopsies to perform." Sanchez replied.

"This one would've stood out. The body was headless." Batman said as Sanchez gave a grim nod.

"Mmm yes, that one would've." Sanchez mumbled until finally she found the file they were looking for.

"Ah, here we are. Oh, it looks like we might have a problem, Batman. No autopsy was performed." Sanchez reported.

"No autopsy? Come on, you've gotta be kidding me." Aaron said as Batman took the file, looking it over.

"The cause of death was believed to be self-explanatory and we were backed up at the time. We had bodies lined up in the halls out the doors." Sanchez explained as Batman closed the file.

"What happened to the corpse?" Batman asked.

"Cremated and ashes scattered over the Arkham cliffs as per asylum policy. Weems had no living relatives. He had an ex-wife but she wanted nothing to do with him so we followed policy and cremated him. If you're after DNA, we do have a couple samples of his blood on hand. Asylum procedure requires blood samples taken from all patients upon admission and prior to post-mortem, regardless of if an autopsy is performed or not." Sanchez said as Batman gave a nod.

"Doctor, I need you to analyze those blood samples. Match or no, I need the results as soon as you can get them to me. Give the results to Commissioner Gordon. I'll give him notice to expect them." Batman said, Sanchez giving a nod.

"If you insist, but what does this have to do with the election? Shouldn't you be looking into that?" Sanchez asked.

"I am." Batman replied before turning away and departing.

Meanwhile
The Joker's Hideout – Undisclosed Location

The Joker's hideout was what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse full of decaying old circus and clown facades. The Clown Prince of Crime himself was splashing some water on his chalk-white face as Harley and Wild Card approached.

"So how'd we do, puddin'? We beat up the Bat just like you asked us to." Harley said as Joker wiped off his face with a towel.

"Good work kiddo. And how're you doing slugger? First time in over a month that you went head to pointy-eared-head with the big bad bat." Joker said as he turned towards Carde who smiled.

"It was exhilarating. I only wish I could've given him a lot more." Carde said as Joker grinned.

"Glad to hear it. The bat could use a good beating now and again. Too bad that bomb didn't blow up on him, but it did give us a good lightshow." The Joker said, motioning to a nearby TV showing footage of the bomb exploding high over the mall.

"We'll get him next time." Carde commented.

"Kid, I've been trying to get the Bat for years. Killed one of his own kids, tortured that Commissioner of his, and yet he's still not snapped. Leave the bat breaking to me, kid. You just keep bruising him." Joker said, tousling her hair as he walked past.

"Wait, you killed one of his kids? Then you know who he is?" Carde asked, confused.

"Nope. Not a clue. Unlike some people, I won't name names, Harley, I don't peak inside the Christmas presents until Christmas Day." Joker said as Harley blushed although it went unnoticed due to her clown makeup.

"It was just the one time Mista' J, and I didn't hear any complainin' later on." Harley said but Carde was still confused.

"You mean, you didn't look at who Batman's kid was? Wouldn't that help you identify him? Finally unmask him?" Carde asked, causing the Joker to pause mid-step. Harley quietly stepped away from her as the Joker started to chuckle, turning towards her with one of his hideous grins.

"Unmask the Batman? Oh Willy, Willy, Willy. You're still new so allow me to es'plain the first rule of dealing with the Batman." Joker said as he approached. Before she could blink, the Joker backhanded her across the face, sending her spinning to the floor, looking up at him in fear but finding the business end of a revolver pointed in her face.

"YOU DON'T UNMASK THE BATMAN!" Joker yelled, quite angrily. Willy was terrified, staring at the pistol in fear. The Joker's snarl turned back into a grin as he knelt down to look her in the eyes.

"Do you know why I haven't unmasked the Batman? It's because that would make driving him crazy all the less fun! I mean have you seen those movies where there's always this character whose identity is always obscured? That air of mystery. If that mystery is ever revealed, then the character always seems to just fall in with the rest of the cast. They don't stand out, they're common, ordinary, uninteresting. If I ever unmask the Bat, he'll be so much less interesting so even though my plans get unraveled by the Bat, I'll never unmask him because that would just ruin the punchline. Only when he's snapped, gone whacko, pulled his underwear over his head and sings the William Tell Overture, will I finally unmask him, but until then, that mask stays on." Joker explained, still keeping the gun trained on Willy who was still fearful of the Joker.

"A-And if someone else unmasks him anyway?" Willy asked as Joker's eyes narrowed and his grin tightened. He pulled back the hammer on the revolver.

"I'd like to tell you a little story. The story of Wrath and his friend Scorn. Once upon a time, these two masked do-badders named Wrath and Scorn found out the identity of the Batman, or at least they claimed to. Don't know if they did for sure, and offered to sell the Batman's identity to the highest bidder. Well one day, a happy-go-lucky fellow with a winning smile made the highest bid for that evidence. Well the happy fellow made Wrath and Scorn so happy with all that money and he made them happier still as he'd laced the cash with something to make them laugh, made them all laugh so hard they couldn't breathe but at least they went out with a smile. And as for their evidence, it might've gotten burned to a cinder after getting so carelessly tossed into a furnace which was followed up by a few clumsily dropped sticks of dynamite. So the moral of this story kiddo is this. If you ever even so much as think about unmasking the Batman or any of his little playmates…" the Joker explained before pulling the trigger, causing Willy to flinch in fear but all she heard was a pop and the whistle of a party horn. She looked to see a flag sticking out of the end of the revolver with the word "BANG!" printed on both sides.

"…it won't be a gag gun firing off between your eyes. And that's a campaign promise." Joker said before beginning to chuckle, his chuckling evolving into his usual insane laughter.

End Chapter 4