10:00 PM
Gene-Grow Industries – Fertilizer Factory
Batman, Robin, and Blackbat were crouched on a catwalk connecting one of the large stacks to the factory, watching a loading dock where a couple of Joker goons patrolled.
"I don't get it. If these are Anarky's bombs, why are Joker's goons protecting them?" Robin asked.
"J is A?" Cassandra asked in Morse Code, effectively asking if Joker was Anarky.
"I don't think so. This is more in line with Anarky's M.O. He doesn't endanger the lives of his supporters since they're typically so few in number anyway. No, he's a bomber, not a suicide bomber. On the other hand, the Joker knows that I will do what I can to prevent those bombs from going off so he wants me to interfere just to give Anarky an excuse to set them off." Batman explained.
"And take us along with Anarky's target." Robin replied.
"Precisely." Batman replied, turning on his cowl's detective vision.
"Sync up your cowls to the Batwing's sensors. It'll allow us to pinpoint the bombs more precisely." Batman said as they flipped on the detective vision modes of their cowls and masks. They could see hazy orange objects moving through the factory, Joker's goons most likely, along with three red blurs positioned in three locations throughout the facility.
"Anarky has a sensor on each of the bombs. We'll need to defuse them all at once. Split up and focus on one bomb each. Signal when in position. Take down the henchmen only if necessary." Batman ordered. The other two gave a nod in response and hurried up onto the roof. Inside the plant, the goons were patrolling the halls, carrying SMGs and shotguns as they kept an eye out for Batman or the Batclan. One bomb was located high up on a shelf in the loading area where large shelves sat with equipment and ready-to-ship fertilizer packs. Blackbat found this one and crouched down next to the bomb, out of sight from the goons below. She then tapped a button on her cowl, causing her cowl to display a partial QWERTY keyboard on her left gauntlet via augmented reality.
"In position. Bomb 1." She said through her voice emulator. At the same time, Robin dropped down through a ventilation shaft into an employee breakroom where the second bomb was set up, a goon standing outside in the doorway. Robin quickly slipped into the shadows, pulling out a remote guided wingding before throwing it, using an AR display and controls on his left gauntlet to guide the batarang past the goon, who didn't notice, down the hall, and into a series of pipes running along overhead, causing a loud clattering and banging sound on impact. The goon jumped at the sound and raised his gun.
"What was that?!" he yelped, clearly nervous, as he left his post to investigate. Robin grinned and slipped in behind the bomb, checking it over.
"Robin in position. We've got a slight problem. This bomb has a motion detector." Robin whispered into the comms, noticing another Anarchy Tag on the bomb, quickly scanning it into his mask.
"Same." Blackbat replied.
"Anarky's learning from his mistakes. Hold position. I'm almost to the third bomb." Batman said as he entered one of the storage room where large drums full of the chemicals used to create fertilizer were stored. Many of the drums had been forcibly opened, leaving a dangerous cocktail of fumes lingering in the room.
"We may have a problem. The third bomb is located deep within a room filled with flammable gasses." Batman reported, seemingly not noticing the figure sneaking up behind him.
"I know, ain't it a gas, B-Man?!" Harley asked, Batman spinning around in time to be on the receiving end of Harley's oversized mallet, knocking him across the room. Harley smirked and pulled a radio from her belt.
"Oh boys, we've got bats in the belfry! Check the boom-booms will ya, and I don't mean the fertilizer!" Harley called out. Back in the break room, Robin peeked out from behind the bomb to see the goon from earlier scramble back inside, gun raised, looking around. He then approached the bomb, Robin ducking down and waiting until he was just close enough. He then popped up from behind the bomb, grabbing the goon by the collar and pulling him down onto the ground, muffling his mouth with his leg before delivering a powerful blow to the groin, the pain being so much he passed out after a loud but muffled scream. Robin then grabbed the gun, removing the clip and the barrel, tossing both in opposite directions so as to render the weapon useless. He turned around and came face to face with Wild Card who was leaning over the bomb, resting her head on one arm.
"Heya bird brain!" she greeted, giving him a wink before bringing her other arm around, her bat in hand. Robin narrowly ducked the swing before rolling clear of the bomb.
"Cut it out you maniac! This thing's live!" Robin exclaimed.
"No duh! Why do you think I'm keeping you away from it?! You want us all to get blown to smithereens?!" Wild Card asked with a demented smile as she wildly swung at Robin who rolled out of the way of this swing as well.
"You're crazy!" Robin yelped, leaping back towards the door.
"Hel~lo?! Doesn't the name Wild Card kinda give you a hint?!" she asked, charging towards him. Meanwhile on the loading dock, a couple of the goons had grabbed a scissor lift and were rising up to the bomb's level on the top shelf with their guns ready. They looked but didn't see Blackbat anywhere.
"I don't see anything, do you?" one of the goons asked.
"Guess it's only two of-AHHHH!" the other goon answered before a black figure dropped down, grabbed him, and yanked him back up into the air only to start dangling back down by the feet, his gun falling to the floor. The second goon, recoiled in fear when it happened, giving Blackbat the opportunity to leap across and then drop down on him from the shadows, flailing her cape at him before belting him in the throat, then kneeing him in the crotch, before pulling him towards her and stepping to the side, causing the goon to go flailing over the edge, landing on a pallet of fertilizer below but the landing was still enough to knock him out. A bullet suddenly ricocheted near her, causing her to flinch. She looked and saw two more goons running up with their guns trained on her. She quickly threw down a smoke pellet and disappeared into the shadows.
"Where'd he go?!" "Find him!" the goons yelled, assuming Blackbat to be Batman or at least a male. Meanwhile, Harley was prowling through a control room with her mallet, looking for Batman.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are B-man! I've gotta little surprise for ya!" she called, stalking through the room with her mallet ready to swing at a moment's notice. She then paused, thinking she heard him behind her and spun around, swinging the mallet only to smash it into some equipment, getting it wedged in the process.
"Oops." She whimpered half-heartedly before feeling something breathing down her neck. She quickly tried to swing her leg around but was caught by the knee mid swing and flipped up and onto her back where she hit the ground hard. Batman grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to her feet, pushing her up against the wall, her arm pinned behind her back.
"Where's Joker?!" he asked but Harley scoffed.
"Ha! Wouldn't you like to know?" she asked coyly.
"I don't have the patience for this, Harley! Where is the Joker?" He asked firmly.
"I ain't tellin'! Besides, ya got bigger problems than Mista' J! Ya got those bombs to deal with, don't ya?" Harley replied as Batman scowled. She was right. Anarky could catch wind any moment that Batman was on site and set off the bombs.
"Then you're going to tell me how to defuse them!" Batman ordered but Harley scoffed again.
"Please! They ain't one of Mista' J's party favors! They're Anarky's noise makers! I wouldn't even know where to begin!" Harley replied.
"Then tell me where Joker is! It's either that or defuse the bomb." Batman said, causing Harley to start sweating.
"What? Ya wouldn't!" she said.
"Try me." Batman argued softly but pointedly, earning a whimper from Harley.
"Alright! Alright! I dunno where Mr. J is! Honest! He disappears every so often lately! There are times I don't see him for days! I mean just last week! I never saw him at all! He says he's got a special hidin' place, somewhere that you'd never think to look!" Harley exclaimed, Batman scowling. There was just enough cowardice in Harley that she was more than likely telling the truth. Meanwhile, Robin and Wild Card's fight had spilled out into the hallway outside the breakroom, Robin ducking her attacks.
"Come 'ere Boy Blunder!" She taunted with an insane grin.
"Man how bad did the Joker gas you?" Robin asked, keeping a hand near his bo-staff.
"Didn't. Actually, he's given me a nice inoculation against Smile-X so the only grins I get are the ones that come from inhaling Slender Gas or making the Bat bleed!" she said, taking another swing at him.
"Makes sense. I heard about what happened to your uncle. You need to know it was an accident! Batman tried to save him, you know!" Robin said, earning a twitchy eyed grin of anger from Carde.
"I don't care about him anymore. Never loved me. He was just using me as a tool." Carde replied, taking a swing but Robin caught the bat in midair, the two beginning to fight over the bat.
"And what makes the Joker any different?! He's just using you too! He's no different than Brooks! You're sick, Willy! You need help!" Robin grunted as they fought over the bat. Carde paused when Robin said her nickname.
"How do you know my name?" she asked, Robin suddenly remembering Batman's advice.
"Best you don't think about it too closely. If I know the Joker, and I know him far better than you, he'll kill you if you find out my identity." Robin said as Carde thought back to the Joker's warning the night before.
"Well…if I gotta go out…" she said, her eyes shifting towards the bomb inside the breakroom. Robin caught her gaze before she spun around and started running back towards the breakroom door. Robin quickly dove through the window, rolling in between the door and the bomb with his bo-staff raised, blocking her as she ran into the room.
"Now look who's guarding the bomb?" she asked with a coy grin. Back in the loading dock, Blackbat was quietly stalking two of the Joker's goons, slipping in behind them both and dropping Flash-Batarangs into the hoods of the jackets they wore.
"Where is that Bat?! I can't find him!" one of the goons commented as they walked past the scissor lift. Blackbat had grappled up to the top of the large door roller over the loading dock doors before firing a grappler to the scissor lift. Just as the goons walked beneath it, she detonated the batarangs which let out a screamingly loud bang but caused no physical damage, the goons falling to the floor, writhing as they held their ears.
"GAH! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT NOISE?!" one of them yelled as two more goons came running up to them.
"What the-! Oh no we've got two men down over here!" one of the goons exclaimed, Blackbat waiting patiently as one more goon joined them. Now with all five goons gathered around, she quickly started to pull with all her might, causing the scissor lift to start tilting slowly towards her. She then looked down at the door roller she was standing on and quickly connected the other end of the grappler to the door before swinging down onto the door itself, her weight causing the heavy door to close and pull the lift over. The goons saw it and dove for cover just as the lift came crashing down. None of them were killed but four were pinned beneath the machine, leaving only one goon scared senseless. All Cassandra had to do was sneak up behind him and tap him on the shoulder, causing him to let out a bloodcurdling scream before falling to the floor in a dead faint. Back in the chem storage room, Batman had a gas mask on while Harley remained handcuffed to a metal post outside.
"Batman to all points, I'm in position and ready to begin defusing." Batman said into the radio.
"*Grunt* Yeah, not likely to happen right away! *Grunt* Trying to keep Wild Card from setting off the bomb!" Robin replied, Batman's eyes widening.
"Can you hold her off?" Batman asked.
"She's putting up a good fight!" Robin grunted back. Down in the breakroom, Robin was just barely managing to keep Wild Card away. He didn't notice as the goon he'd knocked out earlier started to get up, leaning up against the bomb to brace himself, not knowing what it was. Wild Card saw this and started cackling.
"You lose bird breath!" she crowed before turning and diving through the window. Robin turned and saw the thug, the bomb starting to let out a beeping noise. The thug looked and finally realized what he was touching and started running for the door, screaming.
"BATMAN! Motion detector's gone off!" Robin yelled into the comms.
"Everyone out! NOW!" Batman replied. Up in the chem storage, Batman grabbed the handcuffed Harley and started running, carrying her over his shoulder.
"Hey! Put me down Bats!" she screamed. Blackbat was just dragging a few unconscious goons out of the facility when Robin flew past.
"Run for it!" he yelled, Blackbat chasing after him. On another side of the facility, Batman burst out of a door, still carrying Harley, and fired his grapple gun at an adjoining building.
"Anarky's on to you! He's making another broadcast!" Oracle exclaimed before patching in the audio feed.
"Batman, you've left me no choice! Embrace the Anarchy!" Anarky said just seconds before explosions ripped through the fertilizer factory, the building collapsing in on itself. On the adjacent rooftop, Batman watched as the bombs leveled the building.
"Did everyone make it out alright?!" He yelled into the comms.
"Yeah…we're good. You alright?" Robin asked.
"I'm fine. Was there anyone inside?" Batman asked back.
"Blackbat got most of the unconscious goons out. There might've been some inside when it blew." Robin replied.
"We'll have to leave it for the GCFD." Batman said.
"Copy that. What about Harley and Wild Card?" Robin asked as Batman turned to where he'd set Harley down but saw that the Joker's Moll had disappeared. He looked over the edge of the building and saw a non-descript van tearing out of an alleyway, Harley in the passenger seat and Wild Card at the wheel.
"Escaped. I'll alert Commissioner Gordon." Batman said with an annoyed sigh.
11:54 PM
GCPD Headquarters – The Office of Commissioner J. Gordon.
"For the second night in a row, after repeated threats, the terrorist Anarky has finally followed through with his threat of setting off several bombs within Gotham City. This time however, more than just a few windows were broken in the explosion. Whether by good fortune or as a simple warning shot, the bombs Anarky detonated did not claim any innocent lives. However, Gene-Grow Industries is now out an entire fertilizer plant which was leveled by the explosions. Anarky has claimed responsibility for the explosion, stating that he had issued his warning to the Batman and the GCPD not to interfere with the Joker or his plans but that his warnings went unheeded. In related news, polls continue to show a dead heat between mayoral candidates Hamilton Hill, John Hunter, and Alex Ronson, even in spite of the Joker's declaration that the winning candidate will be assassinated. Pundits say that voter turnout is also predicted to reach an unprecedentedly high level, but analysts say this too is in response to Anarky's declaration to set off more bombs should voter turnout be lower than last year's." Jack Ryder reported before the television was turned off.
"I know you did everything you could Batman but now this is getting even more serious." Commissioner Gordon said with a heavy sigh.
"The Mayor starting to breathe down your neck?" Batman asked.
"Are you kidding? His butt is on the line here. He wins, he's dead. He loses, he's out of office. It's a lose-lose situation for him and he doesn't want to end up being the second Mayor the Joker offs. He wants the situation handled. He's contemplating on reactivating the Anti-Vigilante Task Force that Branden had running before I became Commissioner just so you don't interfere and provoke Anarky again." Gordon said as Batman gave him a serious look.
"We'll stop them both, Jim. You know we will." Batman said as Jim sighed again.
"Well the polls open nine hours from now. I'll be getting my men ready to roll until then. In the meantime, do what you can to stop these clowns…err, no pun intended." Gordon said, earning a light smile from Batman.
"You have my word commissioner." Batman replied. Gordon was nearly out the door when he stopped.
"Oh, I almost forgot. One of the Doctors at Arkham sent me this. Said you'd asked for it last night. What is it?" Jim asked, picking up a folder off his desk and handed it to Batman who opened it up.
"It's a DNA test result on a potential lead as to Anarky's identity." Batman replied.
"Oh finally. That means we can finally nail this guy." Gordon said with relief.
"Unfortunately it doesn't. The DNA taken from my suspect years ago is a perfect match for a headless corpse they found in Arkham back in 2009. I've reached a dead end." Batman said as Gordon snapped his fingers.
"Maybe, maybe not." He said as he picked up another folder off his desk but this one had the official GCPD seal on it.
"This came in from the CSI techs. They finished analyzing the defused bombs from Jezebel Plaza and found some dried blood on one of the bomb casings. Looks like Anarky or at least one of his supporters cut themselves while making the bombs. They've also identified some trace elements that might help narrow down Anarky's hideout." Jim said, Batman reading the file over curiously.
"Commissioner, I'd like you to call Doctor Maria Sanchez at Arkham Asylum, and ask her to bring a blood sample from the patient I spoke to her about to your CSI teams and have them compare the DNA of the two samples." Batman requested, earning a curious look from Gordon.
"Have a hunch do you?" Gordon asked.
"I might. That DNA test will either confirm my suspicions or deny them altogether. Let me know what the results are as soon as you get them." Batman said as he handed the folder back to Gordon.
"I'll make it a rush order. Anything to stop these madmen." Gordon said, looking at the folder.
"So what's your-…" Gordon said but stopped when he looked up and saw the room was empty. The Batman had vanished once again.
"If I had a nickel for every time you did that, I'd have more money than Bruce Wayne." Gordon mumbled to himself.
End Chapter 6