A/N: Well, this story is almost coming to an end. This isn't the last chapter, but we're getting close to it. I hope you enjoy it! Plz leave a review or a favorite if you liked it!
Guest #1: Yeah, Christian is pretty bad at the no attraction thing. But he is a Wayne, so it runs in the family.
Isaac Clark: OMG that is almost the exact look I was going for! I'm glad you saw her the same way I imagined her.
Guest #2: I've always seen M'gann as a more open minded character, willing to look at things at a different angle. It made sense to me that she would be able to see Batman's point of view.
Chapter Fifteen: The Party
Kevin Doyle sat with his family eating dinner. His wife had made his favorite, oysters and scallops. Before he had met her, Kevin had been in the navy, which he still considered to be some of his best years. He could never get enough of the sea; he always had to have a bit of it in his life. The scallops and oysters that he ate reminded him of a simpler time, a time before Gotham. In all his years in the navy, he had never seen horrors even comparable to the ones in this cursed city.
"Daddy?"
Kevin looked over at his daughter and saw her smiling at him. He returned the smile and responded, "Yes sweetie?"
"Did you help stop the bad guys today?"
"Yes I did honey, and thank goodness the bad men are all back where they belong," he answered, ruffling his little girl's hair. His daughter giggled and took a big bite out of her mashed potatoes, eating them messily with glee.
"You're our hero honey," his wife told him as she put some salad on her plate.
"Thanks Sandra," Kevin said guiltily, "your support is all I need."
He took some oysters out of the large pot in the middle of the table and spooned some onto his plate. Kevin almost felt sick, lying to his own family. He knew it was for their good though; it was for them.
"So dad, guess what we're doing in class tomorrow," his teenage boy asked him
Kevin turned his attention to his son as he chewed on his dinner, "What are you doing Roy?"
"Well in government class we're discussing the Batman!"
Kevin raised his eyebrow, interested in which side his son might take. He knew how he felt. The Batman was out of control and out of line. Others down at the precinct, such as Officer Johnson, felt differently though. They thought that the Batman was some sort of guardian angel, watching over Gotham.
Sure, they all had theories as to what the dark knight might be. Bullock thought he was some sort of demon that punished the wicked. Joannes thought that the Batman was a mutant created by some horrible lab experiment. Kevin knew the truth though: in the end Batman was just another psycho in a mask. Though, being psychotic was the norm in Gothom.
"Yeah, we were talking about the pros and cons of his interference with the law," Roy continued, not noticing that his father was deep in thought, "My gov teacher thinks that Batman's activities are an active defiance of the pact the U.S. and the Justice League signed years ago, banning vigilantism such as his. My friends and I think he's pretty badass though. I mean, how cool would it be if you could fly, do tons of flips, fight like him, and drive the freakin batmobile!"
"It is a pretty cool car," Kevin said, nodding in agreement.
The truth was lots of people would give anything to be like him, a hero. Maybe he didn't like the caped crusader because he was jealous, or maybe it was because Batman was an outlaw.
One thing Kevin did understand was the drive to do what was necessary, even if it was horrible. He had to do it for his family, the people he couldn't live without.
"Oh and Kevin, I found your pack of cigarettes," Sandra told him with a sly smile, "I took the liberty of throwing them away for you."
"Daddy, you smoke!" his daughter wailed, not wanting her dad to die young.
"I guess I don't anymore Helen," Kevin laughed, trying not to let his grumpy half take over.
Helen smiled and hugged her dad, "good, I want to have you here when I have babies!"
"Lets not get ahead of ourselves," Kevin joked
The family laughed as Helen sat back in her chair and pouted, crossing her arms grumpily.
They continued to eat like a happy family, until the lights suddenly flickered for a bit.
"What's going on?" Sandra asked
"There isn't any storm here," Roy commented, trying to look around for the source of the outage.
Kevin looked around nervously and spotted a shadow in the large window that was near their table. His eyes widened in fear as the shadow grew bigger and bigger, approaching the window more rapidly.
"Oh no…"
Batman suddenly came crashing through the window in a spectacular crash. Glass flew everywhere as the Doyle family screamed in terror.
The shadowy hero landed on the table with a thud and reached across to Kevin, grabbing him by the collar and yanking him close enough to see his glare.
Batman turned his head and saw Kevin's family cowering in the corner in fear.
"All of you leave," Batman yelled at them, "I need to speak with your father!"
"Daddy, what's going on?" Helen cried, hugging her mother tightly.
"Just go into the other room with mommy, I'll be with you in a bit," Kevin told her reassuringly, trying to calm down his family.
"But Kevin," Sandra protested
Kevin cut her off, "Please Sandra, just do it!"
Sandra nodded and put her arms around the kids, bringing them into the family room.
Batman gripped Kevin tighter and snarled, "Did you think I wouldn't figure it out?"
"No, I knew you would. Thank God you did."
"You were the one of the only ones absent during the riots. You're also a lieutenant as well, giving you clearance in the prison. Reports said a policeman set these men free. Now if I didn't know any better I'd say that you're working with the Joker!"
"Please Batman, you have to understand, I had no other choice!" Kevin said, trying to protect himself from the imminent beat down that was coming.
"What do you mean," Batman growled, "ANSWER ME!"
"Y-you remember when the Joker escaped from the police department and stole those files right?" he asked
Batman nodded, "The names and addresses of every cop in Gotham."
"Yeah, well not many of us have family, you see? Everyone knows being a cop in this city is suicide, so the job doesn't attract many fathers or husbands."
"Get to the point," Batman demanded, shaking the already scared officer back and forth.
"Well the Joker, he threatened my family! He threatened lots of our families! He said that if we didn't follow his orders, he would kill them in the most painful way possible!"
Batman loosened his grip. So the Joker had done something with the police identities, but why only use Kevin? There were so many other cops out there the opportunities for him were endless.
"Where is he hiding now?"
"He's holed up at Arkham right now," Kevin sputtered, "he took a group of us to guard it."
Batman let go of Kevin, letting him drop to the ground. Of course the Joker was in Arkham Asylum. He used the police to make it seem as if everything was fine, like nothing was out of the ordinary. Outside, Arkham looked completely normal, but inside it was a mad house.
"Batman, I'm so sorry," Kevin told him, lying bloodied on the ground, his hands cut from the shattered glass, "but I don't think you could ever understand. Do you know what it would be like to loose everything? To have everything you love destroyed?"
Batman turned towards the giant hole in the window and walked towards it slowly. Before he left, he turned his head and answered, "Yes, I do."
Batman jumped out the window and into the dark ally below. Kevin rushed over and stared out the window, watching the dark knight grapple to the building across from them and shoot up into the darkness.
Batman landed on the roof of the apartment across from Kevin's and met up with M'gann there.
"Christian, don't you think that was a little…"
"Necessary," Batman interrupted, "My hunch was right. The Joker has been hiding in plain sight, right under my nose!"
"You found him? Well what are we waiting for, let's go!"
Batman shook his head, "If there's one thing I know it's that you should always come to a fight prepared."
"What, but it's simple! We go in, take out the Joker and free our friends!" M'gann yelled angrily
"It's not that simple, with the Joker it never is!"
M'gann shook her head, "No Batman, every minute we wait is another minute they're in the hands of that madman!"
"We won't be able to help them if we're not prepared for what's to come! We're going into the Joker's home turf and most of your mental powers are down because of your head injuries! I'll be damned if I let that clown catch me off guard again!"
M'gann took in a deep breath, calming herself. She then said, "Alright Batman, we do things your way."
Batman told her, "We'll go back to the cave and once we're ready, we'll attack."
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After three days of preparation, Batman and M'gann M'orz stood on the building opposite from Arkham Asylum. Batman knelt down, preparing his gear for what could be the most important siege of his life.
"Are you sure you don't want me to go in with you," M'gann asked, trying to get Batman to let her help.
"Your psychic powers have been greatly reduced by your head injury," Batman told her as he clipped on his belt and picked up a strange looking gun from the ground, "While you may be able to help in a riot, I don't think fighting the Joker while injured is a good idea."
"You have four bruised ribs and your shoulder is still recovering!"
"But I can still fight. M'gann, I need you to understand, I won't have anyone else hurt because of me! I will not be responsible for the Joker!"
M'gann smiled a bit, he did remind her of the first Batman. He aimed the rifle towards the building and shot three remote bombs around the large circular window on the front of the asylum.
"I need you to try and remain in psychic link if your head will allow it," Batman told her as he strapped on his cape and activated the visor on his cowl.
M'gann nodded obediently and put on the small headset that Batman had given her.
"That should keep you in contact with Oracle and me if you can't keep up a link," he said
"You are a very strong minded earth man, you know that?" she told him as she walked up to him.
During the time M'gann had spent with him, she seen a new side to the Batman. He had an aura about him that commanded respect, and she couldn't help but follow him. She saw his view of the league and had realized he may have been right this whole time.
Batman gave her a suspicious look as she leaned in closer.
M'gann kissed him on the cheek lightly and told him, "Good luck Christian, and please bring them back safely."
"I will, don't worry," he told her
Batman grabbed the edges of his cape and walked over to the edge of the building. He took a deep breath, taking in the peace one last time before he dived into insanity. Then, he jumped, allowing himself to fall for a couple seconds before spreading the cape and beginning his glide towards the Asylum.
Wind whipped around his face as he gained speed, getting closer and closer to his target. As he got within a couple yards of the building, he yelled into his comm. link, "NOW M'GANN!"
M'gann set off the explosives he set, blowing a fiery hole in the front of Arkham. Batman tucked his arms in some, diving straight through the smoke and the flames, ignoring the heat licking his skin.
He then burst from the smoke like an angry deity, his chest glowing red as he descended upon the terrified thugs guarding Arkham Asylum. His suit was still on fire as he landed on his feet with a thud. Due to recent adjustments, his suit was flame retardant, allowing it to withstand the inferno dancing upon it.
The Joker's henchmen charged towards him, yelling profanities and swinging pipes and baseball bats. Batman charged towards them, his muscles tense with fury and his eyes ablaze with anger.
The first thug tried to swing his lead pipe at Batman. The caped crusader shifted to the left, moving out of the pipe's range, and then grabbed the pipe, slamming the butt of it into the man's stomach. Batman then grabbed him by the shirt and threw him into another thug, knocking them both to the ground. Three henchmen charged him at once, but were soon taken out just as quickly as the others.
"No Titan," Batman muttered to himself, "I'm almost disappointed."
He continued to run through the asylum, knocking over anyone who got in his way. Using the map Eve had downloaded into his cowl, he navigated his way through the super prison.
"You'll have to cross through the courtyard," M'gann told him telepathically
Batman nodded, "Alright, the nearest exit is… third door to the left."
He got to the end of the hallway and saw large metal double doors blocking his way to the center of the Asylum. Batman grimaced; he hated to use one of his more powerful tools so soon.
He pulled out a large explosive from his utility belt and placed it on the doors. After activating the charge, he backed up behind the corner and pulled out a trigger. Putting the trigger close to his forehead dramatically, Batman set off the explosion, tearing the heavy doors right off their hinges.
When he turned back around the corner he groaned in frustration.
In the courtyard were hundreds of assorted criminals and psychopaths, all armed with bludgeons, knives, brass knuckles, and other weapons.
"Hello Bats, warden Joker here!" the Joker's voice cackled over the intercom, "I'm so glad you could make it! Now I know you want to see our guests of honor, I mean c'mon, who wouldn't, but first you have to tend to your fans! They've all been waiting for so long, and it would just be rude not to give them the time of day, HAHAHAHAAAHAAAHAAHAAHAHAHAAA A!"
Batman glared at the thugs that began to surround him. He made sure not to show any fear, to show them that no matter how many there were they still didn't have control of the situation.
Discretely, Batman reached behind his back under the cover of his cape. He pulled out three of the most powerful smoke grenades he had ever made and gripped them in his fist.
"We're gonna beat the hell outta you, and then tear off that mask Batman!" one of them yelled confidently, causing the others to cheer loudly.
Batman merely smiled, "I'd like to see you all try."
"GET HIM!"
Before they could begin their charge, Batman through out his smoke grenades. Right as the small beads erupted, a breathing apparatus slid over Batman's nose and mouth, allowing him to breath perfectly in the dense smoke the grenades expelled.
He switched his vision into infrared and looked through the smoke at the multiple confused criminals. It was time to get to work.
Batman began methodically taking each one out from the fog. Those who could manage to open their eyes only saw their comrades being pulled into the smoke by a shadowy figure and could only hear the screams of their fellow convicts.
Wrapping his arms around one felon's neck, Batman quickly subdued him and turned to the thug standing next to him. Before the henchman could react, Batman delivered a strong blow to his abdomen, and then a haymaker straight to his face, breaking his nose with a CRACK!
Under the veil of the smoke, Batman shot a line out and caught one of the guards, who was dragged flailing and screaming into the unknown. His friends looked towards where their buddy had disappeared off to, trying to ignore how much their eyes were burning. Batman dove out of the smoke, tackled one of them, and broke his arm. A thug tried to swing a machete at him, but Batman rolled under it and kicked at his feet, knocking him over. With a powerful kick, Batman knocked him out and then turned to the other thug who was already trying to run away. Pulling three batarangs out of his belt, he threw them straight at the man's feet. Each one found its mark, sticking inside the criminal's leg and causing him to fall over.
A larger thug tried to grab Batman from behind, jumping out of the smoke for a surprise attack. Batman did a back flip over him and grabbed his arm, yanking it behind him. The man wailed in pain as Batman hitched his arm up higher, and higher, until the shoulder dislocated. The dark knight kicked the man onto the ground and then round housed another convict, who was stumbling around helplessly in the smoke.
He continued eliminating each criminal under the cover of his smoke grenades, not allowing one to escape his wrath.
"C'mon Batman, that's not fair! I can't even see you dishing out the pain if you cover the whole dang place in smoke! Harley, can we get a fan or something!" the Joker called
Batman suddenly realized where the Joker was after he finished breaking the leg of one criminal. If the Joker was watching, that probably meant he was up in the observation tower.
He looked up towards the observation tower and, sure enough, there was Harley Quinn and the Joker, looking down on him. The Joker gave him a smile, as if he knew that Batman was looking at him.
He decided to leave the rest of the criminals alone, deeming beating up all of them a waste of his time. He knew where his target was, and there was no time to lose.
Batman shot a grappling line upwards through the window overlooking the courtyard. Attaching the line to his belt, he ascended rapidly towards the top of the tower, where the Joker was waiting for him.
Batman thought of what he was going to do once he got his hands on the mad clown. He was going to break both his arms and one of his legs for Jimmy. He was going to break four of his ribs for all the people he killed in his attack on the park. He was going to crack his jaw for threatening Kevin Doyle's family. He was going to shatter his collarbone for taking Kara.
Batman dove through the window, straight into one of the gunmen guarding the Joker. He tore the gun from the thug's hands, threw it out the window, and then threw the thug into the wall.
"Hey, you aren't invited here!" Harley yelled, pulling out an assault rifle and loading it, "I'm going to have to show you the way out!"
The crazy woman unleashed a volley of bullets towards him, forcing him to take cover behind an overturned desk. Batman pulled an explosive batarang from his pocket and waited for the right moment.
Right when he heard the click of the magazine leaving the gun, Batman jumped from behind cover and threw the batarang at her, lodging it in the barrel of the gun. The batarang exploded, knocking the now broken gun out of Harley's hands and knocking her back several feet.
Before she could get up, Batman grabbed her by the neck and slammed her against the wall, cracking the concrete on impact.
"Ouchy!" she yelped, "Batman, I didn't know you liked playing so rough!"
"Where is he Haley, where's the Joker!"
Harley glared at him and demanded, "How do you know my real name?"
"Haley Queen, former FBI agent, went missing after being put on a case involving a serial killer. You don't think I do my research?"
"That's who I used to be, until my sweetie rescued me from it all!" she yelled, spitting blood in Batman's face.
Batman wiped his cheek and glared at her, "Tell me, what's the sick attraction!"
"Like you'd ever understand!"
Batman sneered angrily, "Try me!"
"Mistah J makes everything fun, and no one took me seriously down at the agency! He actually cares for me!"
"You're delusional, the Joker doesn't care for you. Now tell me where he is!"
"Oh Batman, if you wanted me so badly, all you had to do is ask!"
Suddenly, the Joker jumped from behind him and stuffed a wet rag into his mouth. Batman's vision started to become hazy as he felt himself loosing consciousness.
"What's wrong Batman? Had a little too much?" the Joker laughed, "Oh but the night is still young. Harley! Give Batman another hit hehehehehehe!"
"No problem Mistah J!" Harley said, saluting her crazy boyfriend before pulling out a crowbar.
"I do love these things," she mused, bringing it back before swinging it into the side of Batman's skull.
Batman was immediately knocked out. His armored cowl couldn't even protect him from a direct hit like that. In Batman's last moments of consciousness, he could hear M'gann yelling in to him telepathically, "Get up! C'mon Batman get up!"
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Batman's vision began to return to him as he opened his eyes. His head was throbbing with pain, he felt dizzy and lightheaded. He began to make out a figure sitting on his lap, a blonde figure reaching for his mask. Batman prepared himself for his secret to be blown wide open, for everyone he knew to be hunted down mercilessly by the Joker.
Before Harley could touch his mask, he heard the Joker yell, "Get away from him Harley!"
"But sweetheart, don't you wanna see who he is?" she asked innocently, skipping back towards him.
The Joker laughed and answered, "No one's who you think they are my dear, so why ruin the fun?"
Batman tried to move his hands, but found they were tightly bound to the metal wheel chair he was in, along with his feet. He had to try and find a way to contact Eve or M'gann.
"M'gann!" he called over the psychic link, "M'gann can you hear me!"
There was no response, possibly due her head injuries. He couldn't contact Eve without the Joker realizing it, so for the time being he was on his own.
"You know Batman, I've been waiting a long time for this," the Joker told him, grabbing the handles of the chair and rolling it towards a set of double doors, "for a lot of my life it seemed as if I had no purpose. I really should be thanking you, hehe!"
Batman stayed silent, not allowing the psychopath to bait him into a response.
The Joker gave him a sarcastic look and said, "No response again I see… Oh well, I know how to get you in the spirit. Harley, would you be a dear and hold the door open for us?"
Harley cart wheeled over to the double doors and held them open, allowing the Joker to push Batman into an unlit hallway. He couldn't activate night vision because of the damage to his cowl, so he was just going to have to wait to see what the Joker had in store.
"I'm sure you got here because you figured out my little plan with the policemen?" the Joker asked him happily, walking over to a large lever on the side of the wall.
"You used them to throw suspicion off the asylum and to get into high clearance areas."
The Joker gasped, "Awww, you have been paying attention to me! Well you're half right, I did use some of them to disguise my little home as I made preparations, but others…"
The clown threw the switch, activating all the lights in the hallway. As the hallway lit up, it revealed two lines of policemen, all standing on stools in front of hangman nooses.
"Weren't so lucky, heheheheheheHAHAHAAHAAAHAAHAAAHAAA!"
Batman struggled to get out of his bindings, looking at the policemen who simply looked to the floor in shame and sadness.
"These men want to show their dedication to you, they want to salute you for your services to Gotham!" the Joker told him as he grabbed the handles of the wheelchair again, "Oh captain my captain!"
As the Joker pushed him down the hallway, each time they'd pass a policeman the poor victim would salute and say "Oh captain my captain…"
The policeman would then stick his head through the noose and kick the stool out from underneath. Batman continued to struggle as more and more policemen hung themselves before his eyes. The Joker laughed maniacally, lavishing in the pain he was causing the dark knight.
"JOKER!" Batman yelled angrily, trying desperately to free himself
The Joker cackled, "Oh Bats, do be quiet. They're doing this for you after all!"
"Stop!" Batman pleaded the policemen, "whatever he's told you, it's a lie! You can escape, just don't do it!"
It was no use though, the men continued to hang themselves until the Joker had passed by ever one of them. It was torture, they were all killing themselves in front of him and he was helpless to stop them. It was like reliving his failure to stop his family's murder.
Batman snarled angrily, the Joker had just forced about thirty officers to hang themselves before his eyes.
"Joker so help me, when I get out of here…"
"Oh but Batman, you haven't even gotten to have your big dinner!" Joker said in mock pity.
"What dinner?"
The Joker smiled sadistically, "Come now Batman, I know you really came here for our guests of honor. Don't you want to see them?"
"What did you do?" Batman growled menacingly, still fighting against his binding.
The Joker opened up the doors to a well-lit room with a large dining table in the middle of it. Sitting around the table were three people, each with sacks over their heads.
Joker rolled Batman over to the head of the table and gave him a big smile, "I brought all your friends here to join us. I must say, they are looking their best!"
He then walked over and took off each sack, revealing the bloodied and bruised faces of the Justice League. Batman even saw M'gann with her eyes barely open sitting next to Wonder Girl, who had a large smiley face carved into her cheek and a huge black eye.
"I'm going to snap you in two," Batman threatened
"Oh come now Batman, don't tell me this isn't what you've wanted all along?" the Joker laughed
"What do you mean?"
This made the Joker crack up even more. "HAHAAAHAAHAHAAHHAA, are you serious man! This is just as much your fault as it is mine! You were the one that beat them within an inch of their life, then left them in Gotham Hospital where I could take them away!"
Batman suddenly realized, this was Joker's plan all along. He wanted to put Batman against the league, knowing that they would underestimate him. He had set the whole thing up, and Batman had played right into it. Batman gritted his teeth and clenched his fists even tighter. It was stupid. Stupid and careless.
"Ahhh, so you're finally getting that I was pulling the strings all along! It wasn't hard; all you needed was a little nudge in the right direction. Once I had you going, it was almost too easy to get you to put on your Sunday best and kick their asses, and what a spectacular show it was!"
Batman lowered his head in shame, causing the Joker grin even more widely.
"I gotta tell you though, the blonde in white and red must really like you. I mean the whole time she was all 'Batman's coming, Batman's gonna stop you'. Seriously, did she even know it was you who gave her the whooping of her lifetime!"
He could see the whole league was barely conscious, holding on to whatever bit of life they had left. While the Joker was laughing and enjoying his victory, Batman pulled a batarang out of a secret compartment in his glove and began cutting the ropes that held him. All he had to do was keep Joker occupied.
A/N: The suspense! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and remember to leave a review or a favorite please!