A year ago today, we lost Kevin Conroy. A man who was Batman to an entire generation. Kevin Conroy was a big piece of all our childhoods. But not too long ago, we lost another piece of our childhoods. On October 26, Richard Moll, the voice of Harvey Dent/Two-Face, passed away. May these great men rest in peace.
Grace is in her room and sitting on her bed. She was going over some things for Wayne Industries while listening to the radio when she switched over to the news to see if anything interesting was happening for the Batman and Scarlet Witch for the night.
"Traffic is at a stand-still on the Gotham expressway, where a trailer full of eggs has overturned. - This just in. The Gotham Police are investigating a series of near-fatal accidents along the riverhood. Initial reports indicate that hundreds of Gothamites have inexplicably begun acting like total laughing fools. More details as they become available."
"That doesn't sound good," Grace commented on the reporter's news. "Something that cruel sounds like the Joker."
Grace snapped her fingers, and all the papers on her bed became neatly stacked on top of each other in two different stacks. Grace snapped her fingers again, and she was covered in a red mist. When the mist faded away, her clothes had turned into that of the Scarlet Witch. She then teleported into the Batcave.
Scarlet Witch saw that Batman was at the Batcomputer and was monitoring it. He had just released a weather balloon to analyze Gotham's air for any gas substance, causing the laughing madness across Gotham.
"Has the computer found anything yet?" Scarlet Witch asked as she stood next to her brother.
"The results should be coming in soon," Batman replied.
A moment later, the Batcomputer reads the information collected by the weather balloon, "Air-born gas emanating from riverfront district. Analysis: Lengthy exposure to the gas will result in permanent insanity."
Batman then calls Alfred through the intercom, "Alfred, I left the hex key upstairs in the den. Would you bring it down?"
"Oh, go fetch it yourself!" Alfred responded before he blew a raspberry.
"Very funny, Alfred. But we have no time to play."
Batman and Scarlet Witch listen to crashing noises and sudden laughter from Alfred. A feeling of dread made itself home in Scarlet Witch's heart.
"Oh, no," Scarlet Witch gasped before she and Batman hurried out of the Batcave and into the living room.
When they reached the living room, Batman and Scarlet Witch saw Alfred waving a broom upside down.
"Just a little spring cleaning, sir, ma'am. Ha ha ha ha ha!" Alfred laughed.
Batman sees the wrecked place, and the room is filled with green gas, making people laugh uncontrollably. Scarlet Witch quickly places a shield on her and Batman to protect themselves from the gas. Alfred then uses the broom to smash the glass of a longcase clock.
"Meus Manus Manus," Scarlet Witch spoke, summoning the broom to her hand and out of Alfred's.
Alfred picks up a vase while laughing until he falls and smashes the vase. Batman and Scarlet Witch rush over to his side.
"I believe I've contracted a giant case of the giggles," Alfred told them before laughing, "Haha hahaha!"
After placing Alfred in the Batcave for his safety, Batman and Scarlet Witch traveled across Gotham Bay in the Batboat. Eventually, they found the Joker's garbage boat, and when they were close enough to the boat, Scarlet Witch cast a spell that caused the garbage boat to stop. Scarlet Witch then used another spell to attach that garbage boat to the Batboat. Batman puts on a gas mask while Scarlet Witch puts a shield around herself.
The two heroes hop aboard the garbage boat. A periscope pops up in front of them. It went around the boat, searching for what caused it to stop. The scope went past the two heroes but quickly went back to them. Batman punches the scope, causing the Joker to be sent flying back into the wall. Batman uses his utility belt to control the Batboat to move the garbage boat away from the city.
Joker and his henchmen walk out onto the boat's deck. Joker is wearing a bubble around his head to prevent him from inhaling the gas, two henchmen are wearing clown masks, and another is wearing a mask and dressed as the captain of the boat.
"Look who's come to trash the place!" Joker exclaimed.
"A fitting setting for you, Joker," Batman said.
"Ooh, I just love to get down and dirty! O-kay boys. It's playtime!"
The two henchmen, wearing clown masks, get ready to fight the heroes as one grabs a crowbar, and the other one punches his fist into his palm. The two henchmen then charged up the small mountain of garbage to get to Batman and Scarlet Witch. The henchmen with the crowbar went after Batman, while the other went after Scarlet Witch. Batman jumped over the henchman as he swung the crowbar at him. The other henchman tried to jump the Scarlet Witch but was unsuccessful.
"Manete!" Scarlet Witch spoke with her arm stretched out, causing the henchman to be frozen in the air.
Scarlet Witch decided to help her brother out and directed the henchman to the other one. The two henchmen crashed into each other and fell to the ground. She levitated off the ground and landed next to her brother.
"Batman and Scarlet; you two are such party-poopers. Why don't you take your mask off, Batman? And let your shield down, Scarlet? And have a few laughs!" Joker, sitting on a trash can, suggested to the heroes before he gave a wicked laugh, "HAHAHAHAHAH!"
"Cut the clowning, Joker!" Batman demanded.
Meanwhile, Captain Clown broke the grappling hook's cable from the Batboat. The now-freed Batboat sped away from the Garbage boat.
"Get them!" Joker ordered Captain Clown, pointing to the heroes.
Captain Clown walked toward the heroes with his arms stretched out before him. Batman punches Captain Clown in the stomach, but his fist meets metal, and a loud clang is heard. Batman pulled his hand back in pain.
Scarlet Witch tried to help Batman, but Captain Clown punched her hard in the face and knocked her unconscious. Captain Clown then grabs Batman and lifts him.
"Tsk...tsk. You shouldn't have made Captain Clown maad…" Joker said.
Captain Clown spins Batman until there's no fight left in him.
"Time to take out the garbage!" Joker opens two canisters. Captain Clown drops Batman and Scarlet Witch inside each one. Joker then places the lids on the canisters, which are locked on.
"I just love these new ziplock seals. We wouldn't want our little caged rodent and witch to suffocate, so we'll just puncture air holes!" Joker stabs the canisters with a knife, and Batman dodges the blade. When Joker did the same with the other canister, the shield around Scarlet Witch protected her. As the Joker did this, the two henchmen recuperated and walked over to the Joker and Captain Clown.
"Okay, Captain! Give them the old heave-ho!"
Captain Clown salutes the Joker before it throws the canisters holding Batman and Scarlet Witch over the boat and into the ocean.
"Whoops! Looks like our air holes are water holes too! What a shame! Ha ha ha!" Joker laughed, "I never knew Batman could sink so low. Well, Cap'n; this could be the start of a beautiful friendship! Ha ha ha ha!"
While the shield surrounding an unconscious Scarlet Witch from the water fills up the canister as she sinks, Batman is not as lucky. Batman tried to open the canister. When the two reached the bottom of the bay, Scarlet Witch regained consciousness, and Batman held his breath as the canisters were filled with water. While Batman activates the Batboat, Scarlet Witch casts a spell first to free herself.
"Eradico," Scarlet Witch spoke.
The canister explodes, but the Scarlet Witch is unharmed. Now freed, She swims toward the canister holding her brother. The Batboat, now a submarine, lands next to her as she reaches the canister. Scarlet Witch held up her hands as they glowed a bright red before placing them on the canister's locked top. Within seconds, the top of the canister had melted away, allowing Batman to be free. The two heroes swim up to the surface after escaping certain death. Batman removes his mask, and the shield around Scarlet Witch dissipates before they reach the surface.
The two heroes watch the Joker's garbage boat moving away. They could hear the Joker's fading laugh, thinking he was victorious in defeating Batman and Scarlet Witch. The two glare at the garbage boat.
"You wanna play dirty, Joker!" Batman said.
Batman presses a button on his utility belt, and the Batboat comes up to the surface next to the heroes. The two get in and follow the Joker's garbage boat from behind and underneath the water.
The Joker's garbage boat stops at the A.C.E. Chemicals Waste Disposal Plant. The henchmen had hoses ready to spray the garbage, while the Joker was next to two tanks containing the chemical the Joker was using.
"Get ready boys, here it comes!" Joker flips a couple of switches. The chemicals pumped through the hoses and were sprayed on the garbage, "This'll give those April fools a lot more smiles per gallon! HA HA HA!"
Batman throws a Batarang, cutting the hoses. The henchmen are knocked to the ground from the pressure of the chemicals that spray on them. Batman and Scarlet Witch stand in front of the defeated henchmen. The two were still immune to the Joker's laughing gas due to Batman's gas mask and the shield covering the Scarlet Witch.
"What are you fools…" Joker begins but then spots the two heroes, "Batman! Scarlet Witch!"
The two henchmen charged at the heroes but were stopped when the Scarlet Witch raised her hand at them, and rope tied itself around the henchmen at her command. The two fall to the ground in defeat.
Captain Clown approaches the heroes to stop them. Batman grabs a metal pole and whacks Captain Clown with it, but the robot is too strong for him. The two heroes run further into the waste disposal site with Captain Clown chasing after them. Batman and the Scarlet back into a compactor. When the robot is close enough, Scarlet Witch casts a spell.
"Adficio potentia."
Beams of red light shot out from Scarlet Witch's hand and at the robot. The beams wrapped around Captain Clown and it was raised in the air as Scarlet Witch raised her hand. When Scarlet Witch released the robot from her spell, it fell into the compactor. The two heroes hurried up on the compactor, and Batman pulled the lever, activating the compactor. Captain Clown was squished inside the compactor, and when the robot came out of the machine, it was a cube.
"You killed Captain Clown... YOU KILLED CAPTAIN CLOWN!" Joker exclaimed. "Just for that…" Joker, in a junkyard claw, dumps an entire truckload of garbage on Batman and Scarlet Witch.
The two heroes poke their heads out and see the Joker sitting on the Captain Clown cube as it moves a conveyor belt.
"Hey, Batman! Hey, Scarlet Witch! You two stink so bad I can smell you from here!" Joker mocked them, "Pee-uuuu! Pew, pew, pew!"
Batman and Scarlet Witch freed themselves from the pile of garbage and ran after the Joker on the conveyor belt. When they entered the building the conveyor belt led into, the heroes removed their shields and Batman his mask. Eventually, the Joker was in their sights.
The heroes picked up the face, and when the Joker was within reach, the clown grabbed onto a rope. The Joker was taken away by the rope before their eyes. Batman and Scarlet Witch were falling down a chute, unsure where it led, but the two had a feeling that it was not good. The heroes' eyes grew when they saw a river of molten metal.
Scarlet Witch quickly grabbed onto Batman and flew into the air. The heroes watched as the compacted remains of Captain Klown sunk and melted in the molten metal river. Scarlet Witch and Batman landed in a hanging bucket. Suddenly, a crane hook hits the bucket, almost knocking the heroes out and into the molten metal. Scarlet Witch got herself and Batman out of the bucket just as Joker sent another hook toward the bucket. When the two heroes flew to the clown, he jumped down a hole. Batman and Scarlet quickly followed after him.
Batman and Scarlet Witch slid down a chute after the Joker. When the Clown Prince reached the end of the chute, he grabbed a robe and swung himself to safety. Batman and Scarlet Witch soon smelt the scent of burning trash and realized they were heading toward an incinerator. The two tried to slow themselves in a moment of panic, but their efforts were in vain as they soon found themselves holding onto the edge of the chute for dear life. Batman used one hand to hold onto the chute, while the other was used to prevent Scarlet Witch from falling.
Batman knew his sister had to be tired from all the spells she cast within such a short time frame and the heat from the fire pit wasn't masking things any easier. Batman and Scarlet Witch look up to see Joker on the catwalk above the fire put with a set of controls before him.
"Justice is served hot, Batman and Scarlet Witch! You're going to melt just like a grilled cheese sandwich!" Joker exclaimed with a wicked smile and laugh before pressing a button.
Batman and Scarlet Witch heard something coming toward them from within the chute. The heroes knew it had to be garbage since that was all they were surrounded by. After having a moment to gain her strength, Scarlet Witch held onto Batman and used her magic to fly away from the incoming garbage.
The Joker tried to run away, but Batman and the Scarlet Witch landed before the Clown Prince, preventing his escape.
"Justice will be served, Joker!" Scarlet Witch told the Clown Prince as she and Batman walked toward him.
"Service with a smile?" Joker mocked as he threw one of his sharp Joker cards.
The two heroes dodged the card, which embedded itself into the wall.
"Clean up your act, Joker!" Batman told the villain.
"Oh, that's a joke, right? Batman finally told a joke! Ha ha ha ha!" Joker laughed before throwing another one of his cards.
But this time, Batman catches the card and holds it up with a smirk. The Clown Prince gasped and became scared. Joker then tries to escape, but his foot gets tangled in a rope, causing him to plummet over the railing. The Clown Prince now finds himself hovering over the burning garbage.
"Batman! Scarlet Witch! You wouldn't let me fry, would you?!" Joker asked.
Batman and Scarlet Witch stop to take a moment to consider as the Joker continues to dangle over the flaming trash.
"Batman! Scarlet Witch!" Joker cried. After a few seconds, Batman and Scarlet Witch make their decision and the Dark Knight pulls Joker up.
While Batman took care of Joker, Scarlet Witch quickly administered the cure for the laughing sickness to all of Gotham. Scarlet had created it from the weather balloon's gas sample and a blood sample from Alfred. Within minutes, the entire city was cured.
After taking care of the city and Joker, Batman and Scarlet Witch returned to Wayne Manor for several much-needed showers to remove the stench of garbage. After taking several showers, Bruce and Grace step into the living room, where a recovered Alfred is cleaning the mess he had made. Both Waynes wore robes, while Grace had a towel wrapped around her hair.
"I've taken eight showers, and I still feel soiled! I've never seen so much garbage," Bruce said, but he noticed Alfred looking not too happy. "What's wrong, Alfred?"
"Aren't you feeling better?" Grace inquired.
"What's wrong, sir? Ma'am? I destroyed a priceless Ming Vase," Alfred responded, "and you ask me what's wrong?"
"Don't worry about it," Bruce told him. "I'll just take it out of your salary for the next couple of years."
"Very well, sir," Alfred responded. The butler was both shocked and sad, but he understood.
"Alfred?" Grace called, gaining his attention before saying, "April Fools. Ha ha ha."