Bruce Wayne woke up the next morning from the nightmare. He jumped on a bed and screamed out of anger.
-Nightmare… - he whispered.
-Or reality… - said an old butler who was guarding his master's sleep.
-Alfred! What happened! My brain is confused, I had some feverish dreams.
-Dreams of Arkham and you stuck in endless corridors of the old building trying to find White Shadow?
-Yes! How… how do you know. - Bruce set on his bed drenched in sweat.
-Oh, master Bruce you were talking in your sleep but also Batman is all over the news! See for yourself! - Alfred turned on a tv.
There on the screen was a news report and a footage from the helicopter. There was Batman running out from the Arkham Asylum looking very disoriented but still fighting some guards. Camera flew over the scene when the Batmobile came flying through the gates. The reporter was screaming over the helicopter sound:
-As you see, Batman getting into his car and driving off just in the same moment when Joker's helicopter gets up from the roof of the building! Look there he is! He …he is shooting! Oh no! Get away from him! - the panic rose in a reporter's voice and the camera captured a small helicopter taking off from the roof.
Bruce saw with his own eyes something what he would never imagined to see. Joker was out of Arkham Asylum shooting from a helicopter laughing insanely and behind him was sitting Justice.
Then picture got blurry and the screen showed a different reporter who was on the ground next to the Asylum.
-As you see this three criminals work together! Who would've thought that Batman will help Joker and more over who would've thought that White Shadow is actually alive! She was pronounced dead two years ago when first army troopers got to the city after a lockdown caused by the famous psychopath Evan James who put our beloved city into hell! And now it rises questions what those three are planing and does the government tells us the truth about Evan James? What if he is still alive and these three are on the way to unleash a new hell on Gotham City!
Bruce hold his head with to hands so hard that it started to hurt.
-No!No! How is that happened!? It's a madness, Alfred!
-It's not all, listen, master Bruce. You also have a gas poisoning so you may still feel very confused and actually ill.
Another reporter from a studio was on the screen this time and she gave a short cut of a police statement:
-Police officials say that the escaping of a high profile criminal such as Joker was possible not only because of the help of Batman but also because the high toxicity gas which was spread in the old facility of Arkham Asylum which caused hallucinations of personal. That gas is not harmful for Joker with his twisted immune system and he managed to kill one guard and a doctor inside the facility, he freed White Shadow and allegedly with her help injured fifteen more people.
-The gas… hallucinations. - Bruce walked back and forth in his bedroom. - She didn't help him, Alfred! She didn't! Even on this short video she just sits behind him in the helicopter while he shoots. Whom did he kill? What doctor was that?
-Master Bruce, it's a lot to process but let me tell you everything I could find out about this escape.
-Doctor who was killed, her name was Harleen Quinzel. She was a second doctor who was working with Joker. The first one is Doctor Rex he is …
-I know who he is, Alfred, he is a chief doctor of Arkham. Why did Joker kill some unknown doctor or she just happened to be there… - Bruce mumbled out loud.
-This is photographs from a scene giving to you by Captain James Gordon secretly no one else supposed to know about it. Doctor Rex himself asked him not to show them to you or say anything about Doctor Quinzel.
-Is he afraid I will take my founding from his facility if I know more than he wants me to know? Show me.
Alfred walked to a huge table in the next room. There were dozens of photographs from the murder scene.
-Did Joker dress her in it after he killed her? - Bruce asked looking at the photos.
-No, sir. Turns out Doctor Quinzel had a romantic relationship with her patient. It was her Joker outfit. Do you need an explanation about the fashion?
-No. She had a roman with Joker?
-More over Doctor Rex knew about this unprofessional behavior of his colleague and didn't say anything to her. He conducted his own experiment watching this relationship develop in his words: "to help the patient". This is a copy of his statement provided to us by James Gordon because Mr.Wayne is a huge benefactor of Arkham Asylum and it is for him to decide if he still wants to support such methods. Also Mr.Wayne may be questioned later in this case whether or not he knew about some of Doctor Rex's experiments.
-Yeh… just set up an appointment if the investigation needs me to answer their questions and call my lawyer just in case.
-Will do, sir. As for now Gordon is sure that she was involved in the escape operation but something went wrong and Joker…
-Nothing went wrong. Everything went exactly how he planned it Alfred I am positive on that one. Just like he planned… - Bruce was looking through reports and photos and a bigger picture was coming right in front of his own eyes.
-He possibly couldn't know about Batman! - Alfred was confused.
-He didn't have to. Somebody used us all to get what they want.
-Who? And what is that "they" want?
-Batman… I can bet that people who set this one up are there same people who are hunting Batman for the past two years. Somebody very powerful pulled this trick. It needs a lot of thinking and planing, Joker is not capable of that type of brain work. He is in it just like me and White Shadow, toys in a big game.
-Sir. If I may? You saying that someone with a lot of power I assume in government hunts Batman but because there is no result he decided to make him a villain whom people will fear and paired him with Joker for all people to see.
-Correct, Alfred. In order to do so they brought Justice or at least they made a good job to make Batman believe that she is alive. I still think it is Justice it is her but she may not be in a right state of mind to understand what is happening to her. She is in and Batman wants to save her he goes to Arkham and gets into a trap like a mouse. Someone is watching…
-Watching Batman? - asked Alfred perplexed.
-No. He doesn't know who is Batman otherwise I wouldn't be standing here. He was watching Arkham and as soon as he saw a mouse coming into a trap he pulled the trigger and the whole operation began.
-Joker just was sitting there waiting to be rescued by somebody he doesn't even know?
-Right. He probably got just enough of information to understand that there is a plan to take him out of Arkham but we know Joker he doesn't care who takes him out, he just wants out.
-Do you think they planned kidnapping of White Shadow by Joker? It feels like you are sure that he did it on his own.
-That one I do not know, Alfred. They may have thought about it but her role was just to attract the mouse in this mess. I think they do not care much about her. Probably she is very ill and they took everything they could out of her. They will be pleased if he kills her one more murder on the Joker, no one cares. But they achieved the result this time. Now Batman is all over the news at the same location as Joker and he is not even trying to stop the criminal the matter of fact he runs away as well as Joker.
-It looks like it was a plan all along. People those who wasn't against Batman now are because no one wants Joker back. Police is now under double pressure to take down two villains and City of Gotham maybe going straight to hell again. - Alfred talked to himself. - What shell we do, sir?
-It's a good question. First I need to do more research about what happened and where those roots are going. Be ready Alfred, this time Batman will be a bad gay.
-As always, sir… as always you are.