A/N: This chapter gave me a good deal of trouble and it's still not perfect but I hope you like it.

Arkham Asylum

"What did Strange do to you before Arkham City?" the Batman asked.

"Not much truthfully," Mary admitted. "Kept me hidden from the other patients and staff. He said I would be needed more later on, in his plan to 'save Gotham'. There were a few occasions that he let me see other people. But those were usually… unpleasant occasions for me."

Pain. So much pain. Mary could see it in their eyes. Men, turned into animals by the Professor and his experiments and thrown into cells to rot. They couldn't even speak anymore. All they did was growl and foam and snarl and bite and claw, occasionally reaching through the bars in an attempt to grab that which they could never reach. Their minds had been turned to mush, their souls had been taken from their bodies. Whoever they had been before Strange had gotten to them had died during the experiments. They were simply shells of their former selves. She began to reach through the bars to one lying on the floor, hoping to help him, comfort him, do anything she could to help him with the pain, but her arm was stopped by a black gloved hand grabbing her wrist.

"I would not suggest that Miss Noble," Professor Strange warned Mary. Mary looked up at him sadly before turning back to the poor people in the cells.

"Why would you do this to them?" Mary asked, not taking her eyes off of the eyes brimming with pain.

"Sacrifices must be made in the pursuit of a better world, Miss Noble," the Professor stated. Mary shook her head.

"But you have not given a thing. You have forced others to sacrifice for you," Mary said and the Professor's face hardened at that.

"Take care how you speak Miss Noble. Remember, I am the only one who knows you're here," the Professor reminded her. Mary frowned.

"What about the people who gave me food and other necessities during my time here?" The Professor smiled grimly.

"Oh they've been… taken care of." Mary looked at his eyes, and turned away before she sighed.

"You did not have to 'take care of them,'" Mary protested. "They were paid handsomely by my parents to keep their mouths shut." The Professor shrugged.

"Either way."

"Were you at the Asylum–"

"When you were there? The night the Joker broke out?" Mary cut the Batman off. She nodded. "Yes. I was."

"Where were you during that?" the Batman asked. Mary smiled and laughed a bit.

"Well that is all a very long story."

Mary had managed to sneak away from her room and was currently wandering through the halls of the asylum. The Professor wouldn't be searching for her, he was too busy observing the Joker's arrival… and Batman escorting him here of course. Mary rolled her eyes; she only looked into Professor Strange's eyes on occasion, preferring not to see the tortures he'd put other patients through, but when she did, the Batman filled every thought that wasn't about his patients, his experiments, and his plans. She opened a map of the Asylum that she'd managed to smuggle from Professor Strange's office and started to look over all possible exits and entrances. If she was careful and very, very lucky, maybe, just maybe, she could escape. But her thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of sirens and alarms. She looked around. What in the world?

"The Joker's taken over the Asylum!" shouted one Doctor and he and the others began to barricade the room.

"What? How is that possible?" Strange asked.

"Don't know sir, but he did," the man responded. Strange frowned and immediately left the room and headed toward Mary's cell. He unlocked the door and threw it open.

"Mary, come with me! We need to go!" he barked at the lump on the bed. It didn't budge. The Professor sighed in exasperation and walked over to the bed. "Mary?" He pulled away the blankets to discover there was nothing but pillows and sheets underneath. Strange grit his teeth. "That little–"

Mary quietly walked through the halls of Arkham Asylum, trying to find out what was going on. Maybe I should find a guard, she though. They might know. She stepped out of the Asylum and into the outside world. Mary gazed around in wonder. Towering buildings on the mainland scraped the night sky, the moon illuminating the calm waters of the Gotham River, and the Batsignal shinning high above the city, a constant symbol of hope to the innocent, and fear to the guilty.

"Hey! What're you doing out here?" shouted a rough voice and Mary turned to find three Arkham security guards heading toward her. Mary put her hands up as a precaution.

"Please do not shoot!"

"We're not going to shoot you kid, why would we shoot a hostage?" one guard asked.

"Actually I–" Mary began, but stopped when she realized it would probably be best not to correct them. If they knew she was an inmate… well, she doubted they would be quite so kind to her.

"Can you call this in Jack?" one guard inquired. Jack shook his head.

"Radio's down."

"Ah well. Come on kid, we'll get you to safety," one of the guards said and Mary didn't argue. These men could help her stay safe and at the moment, that was all that mattered to her. The three guards began to escort Mary away, but after a while of walking, there came a sound like shouting in the distance.

"What was that?" The shouting was getting louder and closer. The guars raised their guns in apprehension.

"Kid, go and hide," one guard ordered.

"Why?" Mary inquired, unsure as to why they were so worried.

"Just a precaution. Now go and don't come out until we tell you to." Mary nodded reluctantly and went to go hide in some bushes further up the hill. From a distance, she could see strong men who were wearing face paint or clown masks approach the guards and after a bit of shouting the guards trained their guns on the goons. However, they failed to notice the thugs approaching from behind and before Mary could shout out and warn them, shots rang out and the guards dropped to the ground. Mary stumbled back, tripping and falling on her back, but she continued to scoot away and eventually got up and started sprinting away like the cartoon roadrunner she used to watch on the television on Saturday mornings. After running so fast and far she felt like she was going to cough up her lungs, she stopped, leaned against a wall, slid down to the ground, and started sobbing into her hands. They'd killed them. Those thugs had just killed those guards without any hesitation or remorse. She'd witnessed murders before, but those had all been from other people's perspectives. But seeing it first hand was terrible.

"I have to get out of here," Mary murmured to herself once she'd gotten her breathing under control. "I have to." Mary got up and began to walk away.

Suddenly, Mary was thrown into a wall and held there. Mary struggled, trying to free herself, but stopped when she looked right into the eyes of Victor Zsasz.

"Hello child," Zsasz greeted and Mary closed her eyes and began to struggle as images of over a hundred different corpses started to streak across her mind, but her fighting ceased when Zsasz held the cool metal of his blade against the warm flesh of her throat. Zsasz surveyed Mary, his curiosity apparent. "It has been very long since I have liberated such a young zombie," Zsasz realized. He smiled. "I should remedy that. It is better to give them the gift before they have experienced the cruelties of this world."

"Victor Zsasz. You… liberate people," Mary chocked out in an attempt to stall her attacker and hopefully delay her demise. "Free them from the boredoms of ordinary life." Zsasz smiled in glee at having someone who understood his work.

"Yes. I do," he nodded, and the pressure his knife had on Mary's neck lessened.

"You have liberated many people. Over a hundred." Mary swallowed in apprehension. "Can you… tell me about them?" Zsasz grinned and moved the knife to his left hand, the pressure on Mary's neck decreasing drastically, before he used his right hand to gesture toward a tally mark scar on his left shoulder.

"This one was a man, Steven Anderson, a drunk in his forties," Zsasz began. An image of an overweight red-faced man's corpse in bloodstained clothes, positioned to be sitting on a bar stool, appeared in Mary's mind. She quickly shifted her gaze from Zsasz's eyes to his forehead, giving the impression that she was still looking at his eyes while avoiding the terrible scenes of murder and mutilation. "His life was simply one tragedy after another. His father died when he was a boy, and his mother killed herself when he was twenty. His wife left him after he had an affair and after she left he did nothing but work day to day at the local grocery store and drink on all the time he got off. He was practically begging for my gift and even if I had not given it to him, he would have likely drank himself to death." Mary nodded at him to continue, her hand moving across the wall, looking for something, anything that could help her escape this madman. His finger trailed down to his right bicep.

"This one right here was an angry young man, Zachary Burns, whose family was as broken as they come. He left school when he was sixteen and made his living pickpocketing and cage fighting." Mary almost gasped when her hand came across a loose brick in the wall. Maybe, if she could just get it free… "He spent every Saturday at the Iceberg Lounge, fighting in Penguin's little underground fighting ring. And every Sunday he gave the money he won to a boy's home he spent a good amount of time in as a child. He fought against receiving my gift but once I dragged my blade across his throat, he accepted the gift." Mary nodded at him to continue, still attempting to jostle the brick free as silently as possible. Zsasz hand moved to a tally mark directly over his heart.

"This one here was a little black girl, eight years old. Her mother was a tired woman, who worked shifts as a waitress, bar tender, and occasionally a stripper in order to make ends meet. The little girl always wore her black hair in pigtails and loved to skip and play hopscotch on her way home from school." The little breath Mary had managed to keep in her lungs quickly left. That had been one of her favorite things to do when she was young. "The Batman immediately apprehended me after I saved her but it was worth it, to see such beautiful red blood spill over soft, unmarked skin, is glorious in itself." Zsasz looked Mary over again, like an artist judging a painting. "But I have a feeling seeing your crimson blood would be just as wonderful." Mary quickly threw all caution into the wind and, in one quick pull, jerked the brick from the wall and bludgeoned Zsasz with it, knocking him to the ground. Once again, Mary shot off like a bullet, knowing that just about anywhere would be better than with Zsasz. She raced across the grounds of Arkham Asylum until she almost collapsed from absolute exhaustion.

Ok, Mary thought to herself, once she'd caught her breath. I need a place to hide until things calm down and I can escape. Mary took out her map again and started to survey the Asylum. The gardens will likely be empty, Mary realized. She looked around where she was currently. Now if I could just find out where I am. She looked at the moon that shone brightly over the waters of the Gotham River. Ok, if the moon rises in the east and I need to go west, Mary thought out, pointing at the moon, then I go that way, she finished, pointing opposite the moon. She then folded up her map and began the trek toward the gardens, hiding behind bushes every so often t avoid being spotted by passing thugs. After what felt like hours, Mary finally reached the doors to the gardens. Smiling to herself, she opened them and entered the greenhouse. Entering the enormous building, Mary spun around absorb to the glorious garden and started to wander through the paths, being careful to only step on the dirt or on the pathway stones and not on the plants. The gardeners probably made sure to keep it nice for Poison Ivy's sake; she'd murder them if they mistreated the plants in anyway. Mary sat down on a bench and started to look over her maps of the Asylum and Gotham City. She could escape and would escape if it was the last thing she ever did. Mary thoughts were interrupted a good few hours later by the sound of someone opening the door to the gardens. Mary quickly gathered her things and hid deep in the plants.

"Who's there?" a seductive voice called out. Mary continued to hide behind the brush, not wanting to be spotted. However, she did not count on Ivy's plant finding her, tying her up, and taking her to Poison Ivy. "Well, what do we have here?" Ivy wondered. She began to circle Mary, inspecting her. "You seem awfully young for a patient of Arkham Asylum."

"Please do not hurt me. I was just hiding," Mary pleaded. "I did not even hurt any of the plants, I promise."

"We'll see about that," Ivy said. She turned to her plants and appeared to be talking to them. After a while she smiled and released Mary with a wave of her hand. "It looks as though not all meat-sacks are as careless as others. What's you name my dear?"

"Mary. Mary Noble. Is it alright if I stay here until things calm down and I can escape?" Mary inquired.

"Of course, a little flower like yourself is always welcome in my gardens." Mary grinned and started to look over her maps again, murmuring, "Peter, Peter, pumpkin eater
Had a wife and couldn't keep her
He put her in a pumpkin shell
And there he kept her very well." Ivy looked at Mary.

"Pardon?"

"You cannot have children so you treat plants like your children. Also, a man who you loved experimented on you and made you into this, hence your distrust in men," Mary explained without looking up from her maps. Ivy gaped slightly.

"How did you know that?" she breathed, her plants moving in a distressed manner. Mary looked at Ivy and the plants and soon realized her mistake.

"I am sorry. I have special powers too… However, I have more trouble controlling mine," Mary admitted. Ivy calmed down.

"I'm sure you'll get the hang of it eventually," she assured Mary. Mary smiled and then yawned.

"I am going to sleep now. Can you wake me when things calm down a little?" Mary requested. Ivy grinned.

"Of course. Goodnight night my dear." Mary smiled sleepily and made herself comfortable on a bench, Ivy's plants hiding her from view.

Mary woke up a little while later to find Ivy's plants had grown exponentially.

"Hello my little darling. How was your sleep?" Ivy asked.

"It was nice. What did I miss?" Mary inquired, sitting up on the bench and looking at the gargantuan growth.

"Quite a bit. The Joker gave me some TITAN, which has helped my babies grow, and the Batman's gone looking for spores that will stop the TITAN transformation." Mary's eyes widened.

"Batman was here!" she exclaimed.

"Yes," Ivy nodded.

"No!" Mary groaned, holding her head in her hands. "He could have helped me escape."

"Oh there will be plenty of time for that later on," Ivy assured her.

"Where is he?" Mary questioned, ignoring Ivy's comment, and starting to get up. "I need to find him."

"He's in Killer Croc's sewers. Going down there is suicide," Ivy stated.

"Not for him. I will just go to the elevator and wait for him to come up," Mary replied.

"Please be careful. I'd hate to see such a sweet young face in the obituary column of the Gotham Times."

"I will Miss Ivy. I promise." Mary then headed back to the Asylum in search of a way inside. Making her way around the Asylum, she looked up to see a balcony with a door that led inside.

Now, how do I get up there? Mary wondered. She started to back up, trying to find a way up there but she found none, until she suddenly ran into something. She turned around, expecting it to be a tree or something, but instead found herself staring into the face of the person she wanted to see the least.

"Here you are," Professor Strange grit out, trying to control his fury. He'd found her.

"What were you thinking child?" Strange lectured, pacing back and forth in front of a seated Mary as she rubbed the back of her head, which was still sore from the Professor having pulled her all the way back to the Asylum security room by her hair.

"I was thinking that I wanted to be free and that you would be so busy watching the Batman that you would not realize that I was gone until I was far away from your grasp," Mary stated still rubbing the back of her head. The Professor looked at her and walked over to Mary, kneeling in front of her.

"That is the problem with your little plan," Strange said, grabbing Mary's chin and forcing her to look into his eyes. "There is no where you can go where you will not still be in my grasp." Mary gazed fearfully into his eyes, flashes of tortures and murders he'd committed appearing in her mind, until he released her and she looked down into her lap.

"Yes sir," she replied demurely and Strange nodded satisfied. He looked at one of the security monitors and sighed, agitated.

"If it were not for the fact that the Batman is here and I need your insight, I would send you to solitary confinement for the next two weeks," Strange informed her.

"You are still going to send me to solitary confinement the moment the Batman is gone," Mary pointed out. Strange smiled.

"Glad to know we understand each other." A loud boom echoed from the speakers and the Professor turned to see bursts of light and color fill the air above the Asylum.

"Fireworks," Mary smiled, leaning closer to the screens, drinking up the sight of a beautiful thing she had not seen in years. Strange examined the display.

"It looks as though the Joker's festivities have begun. Which means the Batman will be there soon," he noted and Mary nodded. She continued to look at the screens, smiling at the bright and cheery colors. Professor Strange turned one of the monitors to a news station and began to survey the asylum.

"Arkham Asylum is still under lockdown, its staff at the mercy of the rampaging inmates. Just ten minutes ago, we received this taped message," a news reporter's voice said.

"Greetings Gotham! Joker here!" came the voice of the Joker. "Arkham is mine! Soon, I'll release madness untold onto the streets of Gotham. But first direct your eyes to the rooftops and witness the final destruction of your dear Dark Knight!"

"We've been circling the tower since – wait there! Joker is making his move!" the reporter cried and the camera zoomed in on the roof. A horrible bleach white hand with incredibly long nails shot up out of the roof, soon followed by a just as gruesome body, with a Glasgow grin and a green Mohawk, and Batman clutched in the monster's other hand.

"Oh boy," Mary muttered as she laid eyes upon a TITAN transformed Joker.

"Showtime Batman. Let's give the rubes something to talk about. Two freaks in a fight to the death. And for one night only, please welcome our special guest referee," the Joker introduced, pointing to an older man with grey hair sitting in a chair high suspended high above the roof. "So… come on, change! Get crazy! It's the only way to beat me! You know you want to," the Joker grinned.

"Never!" the Batman shouted and took a injector and gave himself a shot of some sort of green substance.

"You wasted the antidote on yourself?" the Joker laughed, throwing Batman across the roof and into a wall, Mary wincing when the Batman hit. "Now that's funny! Hysterical!" The Joker ran over and attempted to stomp on the Batman, who rolled away at the last second. "But you still spoiled my fun and for that I'm going to paint Arkham with your blood." The Joker began slicing his lengthy nails like blades, the Batman dodging. "It won't kill you to smile, Bats!" the Joker taunted. As the Batman continued to dodge the Joker's attacks, the news helicopters caught his eye. "Excuse me Bats!" the Joker apologized, jumping high onto the roof and flexing his grotesque muscles for the cameras. The Batman took the opportunity to use his Batclaw to pull the Joker down. The Joker fell back and his nails were caught in the wood of the roof when he landed, pinning him down momentarily. The Batman then used the Joker's momentary immobility to beat him down.

"He is attempting to use the Joker's slight narcissistic tendencies to defeat him," Mary smiled. "He is clever. Very clever."

"Yes he is. But he won't be clever enough to stop us," the Professor commented. "But what do you see Mary? Can you see into his mind?" Mary tried to look into the Batman's eyes and mind but for once, there was nothing.

"My abilities do not work on images," Mary concluded. "They only work when I can see the subject in person." Strange cursed.

"Of course it wouldn't be that easy would it? Well, there's always plan B." A great boom issued from the speakers and Mary and the Professor to see that the Joker had fallen through the roof. The camera zoomed in to show the Joker being electrocuted by wires under the roof and after a while, the Joker made his way back up to the surface.

"I can take it. I can take anything you throw at me Bats! You can't beat me! I'm actually going to win," the Joker shouted as the Batman put some sort of gel on his hand. "Ready for the next round?"

"Always," the Batman said.

"What?" the Joker yelled.

"I'll never let you win." With that he brought his fist up to the Joker's massive jaw and blasted him backward. The Batman stumbled back, holding his arm in pain, but remained standing, while the Joker was not. The Professor looked at what remained of the Asylum and smiled.

"I have a feeling that this incident will play out perfectly for our plans Mary," Strange stated sinisterly.