Batman hurriedly escorted Spider-Man to the Batcave in a race against time to save the young superhero's life. As Spider-Man struggled to combat the effects of the poison, he slowly regained consciousness and found himself aboard the Batplane en route to the Batcave. He groaned and glanced at the determined Dark Knight, who was fully focused on piloting the aircraft. He desperately hoped that Alfred had managed to procure an antidote for the venom coursing through Spider-Man's veins.
"Stay calm..." Batman to him. "...you've been poisoned."
"What?!" Spider-Man screamed in terror.
"You need to stay calm," Batman tells him. "That will slow the poison from getting to anything..." Then he saw Spider-Man was getting woozy and fell over on the window. "Spider-Man?" He asked, seeing the boy was falling asleep. "Stay with me, Spider-Man." But then his head went limp and landed on the window, getting the Dark Knight to worry once more. "Spider-Man? Spider-Man!"
The Batplane flew through the waterfall and landed in the Batcave. When he did, he exited the ship with Spider-Man in his arms. He saw Alfred was there with a gurney and a syringe with what he believed to be the antidote for the poison. He rushed over and placed Spider-Man on the gurney and tried to help get the syringe into him.
"We must get this into his blood veins quickly, the poison is killing him," Batman warned Alfred.
"If we were to do this... we need to remove..." Alfred said, looking down at his mask.
Spider-Man wheezed as he seemed to have heard the conversation. "Do...do it."
Batman's hands trembled as he slowly and cautiously lifted the mask from Spider-Man's face, revealing the determination etched into his features and the pulsing veins marking the toll of the venom. In that vulnerable moment, Batman came face to face with the heroic soul behind the mask, now privy to the identity of Spider-Man.
With urgency and precision, Alfred swiftly administered the life-saving antidote, plunging the syringe into Spider-Man's neck. A sharp intake of breath pierced the air as the antidote surged through his veins, engaging in a fierce battle against the deadly venom.
Bruce's unwavering presence by Spider-Man's side did not waver as he witnessed the hero valiantly combat the effects of the poison. Spider-Man was connected to various medical devices while Alfred diligently tended to him. As the hero settled down for some much-needed rest, Bruce contemplated whether Spider-Man had the right to know his true identity.
Throughout the night, Bruce remained a steadfast companion to Batman, defending him against a relentless onslaught of assassins and protecting the city, despite not being a native. When Peter groggily regained consciousness, he spotted Batman unmasked, holding his mask in his hands. It was a shocking revelation to see that Batman was actually Bruce Wayne, the enigmatic billionaire playboy, all along.
"You have got to be kidding me," Peter laughed as he saw who Batman was. "Bruce Wayne. The Batman.
"Yeah, I get that." Bruce comments. "Peter Parker."
Peter froze when he heard that he knew his name. "How...?"
"I might have run your face through facial recognition in case you didn't make it," Bruce explained. "Wanted to be prepared to inform any relatives."
"Right." Peter saw that was a plausible excuse. "So... why'd you unmask?"
"I know who you are." Bruce shrugged. "Felt it should be right you know who I am. You risked your life to save me."
Then they watched as Alfred came by with a tablet. "Hey, Alfred. Please give me some good news."
"Welcome back to the land of the living, sir," Alfred said with relief. "I have good news, the poison has been evacuated from your systems safely."
"Great," Peter said as he sighed and stood up. "My legs feel like they fell asleep."
"You're lucky that you didn't lose them," Bruce commented.
Peter stood up and stretched with a sigh. "Well, shall we?"
Bruce was shocked when he saw Peter heading back to the Batwing. "Wait, what are you doing? You just got out of bed."
"Yeah, and there's a whole city that needs us, right?" Peter reminded him. "We gotta find Joker and those assassins and stop them."
Bruce watched him walk to the jet and scoffed. "He is persistent."
"Familiar to someone I know," Alfred said, eyeing Bruce.
Bruce rolled his eyes as he grabbed the cowl and approached the jet. They still needed to stop the rest of the assassins and stop the Joker.
"So, how do we find Joker?" Peter asked as he drew his cowl.
"From radio chatter on the police scanners, it seems they just missed Kraven, so he is back in the wind," Batman informed Spider-Man. "Lucky for us, I just so happened to have slipped a tracker in his belt during our fight. That and with Electrocutioner's gloves, I learned it seems that the assassins and Joker are meeting up from the chatter I picked up on the tracker."
"Looks like the signal is coming from somewhere in the Diamond District," Batman said as he followed the signal through his electromagnetic tracker with Spider-Man sitting closely behind him. "You sure you're up to get back in the field?"
"Aw, the Batman has a heart," Spider-Man said with a squealing voice.
"That's a yes," Batman said. "And don't get used to it, out here, I am the Knight."
The signal led them to a tall building that had red banisters hanging from the front with large golden Rs printed on them. There's the signal, looks like the Electrocutioner is inside the Gotham Royal Hotel. They dropped from the Batwing and went into the shadows to figure out their next move.
Batman noted in his head. "This is it," he said, turning to look at Spider-Man.
"Hey, Bats? I got a question." Spider-Man said as he and Batman landed on the roof of a nearby building.
"What?"
"If The Joker and the other assassins are inside, then why are SWAT providing security?"
Batman used his scanners and got a close look to see if his question was true. There was a whole SWAT team protecting the entranceways. "This is strange...we'll have to deal with them."
"I don't think working for insane clowns was what they meant by 'protect and serve.'" Spider-Man quipped as he stepped over an unconscious SWAT officer as Batman landed a blow on the last one standing. "How are we gonna get in? Front doors are locked and unless we want to cause more property damage, there aren't any open windows."
After twisting the arm of the last officer, Batman turned his head towards the hotel's garage. "There, that parking garage is our way in."
As the two were nearing the garage, they could hear SWAT officers talking to one of Joker's men but were still wearing a black mask as a disguise. "So what gives? Black Mask raid an amusement park or what?"
"You don't get paid to ask questions pal." One of Black Mask/Joker's men responded.
"Hey. Branden's doing you a favor here. Don't forget it."
"Yeah. Right. We ain't forgotten. Good Lieutenant Branden's a friend to us."
"So what's with all the tracks?"
"It's a surprise. Now, why don't you go back to your post and let us finish our work?
"I'm fine right here if you don't mind."
"Who says I mind?"
"We do." Spider-Man interrupted, leaping from the ceiling to kick the nearest guard. "And you guys wonder why no one trusts the police in this city."
Batman then came down with a grapple and shot it around the throat of the men, yanking it backward to send him flying into a few crates. "Why do you think we exist?" He reminded Spider-Man.
After the guards were easily dealt with, the two heroes entered the Hotel's Parking. In front of them, a pair of Joker's henchmen approached a shattered window providing a view of their accomplices near the hotel's shuttered entrance. Batman, moving stealthily, incapacitated them with a swift move, clashing their heads together.
The noise alerted another goon, who looked up just in time to see Spider-Man descending upon him, swiftly immobilizing him with his web. Landing next to Spider-Man, Batman faced the oncoming horde of Joker's crew. Despite being armed, they couldn't withstand the combined might of the duo, who quickly subdued them all.
Once they were finally able to get the shutter door to open, Batman and Spider-Man recognized a very familiar ambulance near the elevator door.
"Is this…?" Spider-Man started as he leaped over the fire and saw there was no one inside.
"The Joker's ambulance. He must still be in the building." Batman finished his thought.
As they made their way through the long tunnel, Alfred called them. "Gentlemen. Has the Joker taken a room at the Gotham Royal?"
"He's in here. And SWAT is doing his dirty work, keeping Gordon and the media away from whatever's going on inside." Batman answered.
"Doesn't Branden realize It's not the Black Mask he's working with?" Alfred asks.
"I guess he'll find out when we bring in the Joker," Batman promised.
Realizing that the elevator was shut down, Batman entered the room ahead of the ambulance and spotted the main generator. Once powered on, the elevator suddenly dinged and opened to reveal a dead body covered in cash and footprints all across the floor.
Spider-Man had just pressed the button to go up when Alfred called them again. "Gentlemen, do either of you know just where in the hotel the Joker is located?"
"Not yet. Why?" Batman responded.
"Well, It looks like there's a security room in the hotel lobby. You could use the cameras to find him."
"Hmm, good idea. Thanks, Alfred." Spider-Man said as they both hung up.
Once the elevator came to a stop and opened, the heroes took notice of all the explosives in the room with them.
"There are enough explosives here to take down this building. I wonder what other surprises we'll find." Batman noted.
"Please be something fun like an amusement park for once," Spider-Man muttered under his breath as he opened the door in front of them.
The door leads them to the two-floor Hotel Lobby. On the other side of the room, giant Christmas tree ornaments hung from the ceiling as well as a chandelier. Red ribbons were wrapped around the pillars on the left and right sides of the room. There were two walkways that were decorated with Christmas lights on the sides and a Christmas tree sprung out from the bottom floor between them.
"Okay... I can't exactly tell if this was Joker or just celebrating the holidays." Spider-Man admitted.
"Likely the first one," Batman said.
Also in the room with them were eight armed guards. Once realizing one of them was using a jammer, the two sprung into action. Batman silently took out the thug wearing the jammer and snapped the antenna in half, disabling it.
"Hey!" Someone shouted.
As Batman spun around, he was confronted by yet another armed guard. But before the guard could fire, Spider-Man descended, gave Batman a nod of approval, and swiftly hoisted the guard to the ceiling with his web. Batman wasted no time and ascended to the safety of the gargoyles overhead, out of sight.
Below him, an oblivious guard wandered beneath Batman's perch. With precision, Batman swooped down, ensnaring the guard and hoisting him up, only to gently lower him back down, secured by a rope tied around his ankle. The guard's panicked screams echoed, drawing the attention of his comrades. By the time they arrived, he was unconscious, and Batman had vanished into the shadows.
Meanwhile, Spider-Man spotted a guard ascending a ladder to the walkways. With a quick flick, Spider-Man's webs yanked the guard from the ladder, sending him tumbling to the ground below, unconscious but alive.
Another thug was walking past an air vent when suddenly Batman sprung out tackled him to the floor and punched him hard in the face.
As Spider-Man crawled along a wall, he noticed that one of the guards was near him. Taking advantage, he used his webs to pull the guard towards him and slammed him into the wall twice before webbing him into place.
"Don't let the bed bugs bite." He whispered to the unconscious guard before moving on.
The last two guards had partnered up together, standing back to back. Things were quiet until one of them was suddenly yanked up into the air, screaming as he disappeared from view. The other guard was panicking now. He started shooting in all directions hoping to hit something. Then, Batman snuck up behind him and silently knocked him out.
Walking towards the Security Room, they noticed that the door was locked using a security panel which was easily hacked into by Batman. Inside is a large desk with two monitors and a fan on top of it. Behind the desk is a wide window that stretches from one side of the room to the other, letting the observer see the entire lobby. Above them are more monitors with the biggest one directly above where the two heroes are standing. Batman presses a key on the keyboard of one of the monitors to pull the video feed of the penthouse.
In the room are Joker, Bane, Firefly, Vulture, Electrocutioner, Kraven, as well as a few armed men. Bright lights are lazily strung up along the walls and across the ceiling. Behind Joker are multiple TVs piled up on each other showing different still images while two show the faces of Deadshot and Shiva. In the middle of the room is a table with a fruit cake and briefcases placed on it. Joker is no longer wearing the white suit he had on earlier and has replaced it with a dark purple leather suit with a green vest underneath. Placed over his hands are a pair of black gloves, and now wearing black pants with a belt around his waist and black leather shoes on his feet.
"Friends, assassins. Welcome to our first quarterly performance review." Joker or 'Black Mask' says, gaining everyone's attention except the Electrocutioner who is sitting on a swivel chair playing on his phone. "As you can see here, Batman and Spider-Man deaths are coming in far below projections." He explains while pointing at the TV screens. He begins to laugh before he quickly stops himself and notices Electrocutioner. "We are really going to have to turn this around." Joker takes off the mask he's wearing and throws it onto Electrocutioner's phone, breaking it. "And by we I mean YOU." Joker laughs as he hops onto the table "Got that, Mr… Cutioner?"
"Just who, the hell, are you?" Electrocutioner asks as he stands up and throws the mask onto the floor.
"I'm the guy with the money..." Joker answers as he slides off the table and pulls out a revolver. "...And the gun!" He fires a few rounds into the window behind Electrocutioner before firing another bullet into the floor. "So when I hire you to kill a Bat and a Spider, you shut the hell up and kill the Bat and the Spider." He shouts as shoves Electrocutioner back onto his chair.
"So, do you have, anything else to contribute?" He questions. After receiving no answer, he says. "I didn't think so."
Joker then ended up using his foot to push him out the window behind him. The two heroes are helpless to do anything except watch the man fall using the various monitors around them. He screams until he falls through the glass ceiling above the lobby and lands on the chandelier. The chandelier is unable to support the extra weight snaps off its rope and crashes into the ground right in front of them.
"Jesus Christ." Spider-Man breathes out. "This man is the definition of a monster."
Back with the rest of the assassins, Joker slices off a piece of the fruit cake with a knife and eats it.
"Mmmm! This fruitcake is fantastic!" He spins around and sticks the knife into the table. "Anyone want a piece? Alright. Meeting adjourned. Get out there and kill the Bat and Spider."
Firefly starts up his jet pack and flies out of the room using the window that Electrocutioner fell out of. Vulture activated his wing pack and ended up doing the same, but shattered his window in the process.
Noticing that Bane and Kraven didn't leave like the rest, Joker confronts them. "Move it along, big boys."
"No. They're coming for you now. And when they get here, I'm going to kill them." Bane explains as he approaches Joker.
"So you wait." Kraven then grabs him by the shoulder and throws him into a nearby swivel chair.
Joker starts cracking up. "Well, this should be interesting." He comments before spinning around in his chair and laughing.
The two heroes walk out of the room and look up at the broken glass above them before noticing the lift below the opening.
"That lift should get us up to the ceiling, so we can get out of here." He says as he walks over to Electrocutioner's body and takes off his gloves. "Maybe Electrocutioner shock gloves could restore power to this platform."
"Isn't that kinda disrespectful? You know, looting from the dead?" Spider-Man questions.
"It's the only way we can get out of here." He explains before grappling up to the lift.
Spider-Man sighs before following after him. "I hate to say it, but you're right."
With the aid of his gloves, Batman powered up the elevator's generator, setting them in motion as Spider-Man kept his balance on the platform. They ascended towards the shattered glass ceiling, which Electrocutioner had previously crashed through, revealing an accessible window that led into the building. As they used their grappling hook and web to reach the window, they began to pick up snippets of SWAT team communications on their comms.
"Six-five to Branden. Six-three reports. Sighting of both Batman and Spider-Man in the building."
"Excellent. What about Gordon?"
"No sign of him. He's got no idea anything's going on here."
"Alright. You men be ready to move when I arrive."
Oh great. More trouble. Spider-Man internally groaned as they entered the East Tower.
"Were you two able to find the Joker?" Came Alfred's voice through their communicators.
"Yes. He's in the penthouse." Batman answered.
"I see you profited from my advice. Yet again."
"Not yet. Getting to him won't be easy. The elevators are down and the Joker's men are everywhere."
"Well. I've no doubt you and our new friend will figure a way up there." He said before hanging up as the two heroes entered the next room. Down the hallway were more of Joker's men who were being protected by a shutter door. To their right, Batman spotted a power generator for the door. Using his new gloves, he powered it up and the shutter door opened halfway.
"When do we get to off the hotel guests?" One of Joker's men asked, not noticing the shutter door behind him opening.
"Joker says we can kill any employees we find, but we gotta keep the guests locked up."
"Yeah? Why's that?"
"Joker's got all hands redecoratin' this fine establishment. You ever think who this is all for?"
"The guests?"
"By the time we're done with this joint, it's gonna be a damn house of horrors and they're gonna be stuck in it."
"To think they paid three hundred bucks a night, for this?"
"Sounds like a reasonable cost of admission."
In an instant, the thug closest to the shutter found himself yanked to the floor, his feet ensnared by webs that dragged him away. The remaining thugs were paralyzed with shock, unable to react as Batman and Spider-Man made their entrance, sliding under the door and launching into a flurry of attacks. The situation quickly deteriorated for the criminals when Batman powered up his gloves, unleashing jolts of electricity. The thugs were outmatched and soon lay unconscious. With the last of them down, the room's TVs flickered on, revealing the Joker's menacing grin.
"Well, would you look what the Bat and Spider dragged in?! You know you guys are a little late for supper. Lucky for you two, your dear friends Bane and Kraven just REFUSED to start the meal without either of you. Apparently, he prefers his dishes served cold." He joked before the TVs turned off.
The two kept moving as they entered the Laundry Room. Noticing the air vent above, Batman removed the vent cover using the Batclaw before crawling through. Once exiting, the duo walked down the small corridor to find that they were in the Elevator Shaft. Below them were two elevators that were side by side. Spider-Man hopped down onto the first elevator when his Spider senses went off and the elevator began to shake. He quickly jumped over to the second one. Spider-Man turned around to warn Batman but was too late as he had already jumped down.
Suddenly the first elevator gave way and collapsed.
"Batman!" Spider-Man shouted as the elevator fell, nearly taking Batman with it. Luckily, Batman had jumped off at the last second. Spider-Man grabbed his stretched-out hand to pull him up to the other elevator with him "Phew, that was close. You okay?"
"I'm fine," Batman answered before charging the elevator's generator to get it moving up.
The elevator's descent slowed before it halted completely. Abruptly, the doors above swung open. "What's going on down there?" echoed the voice of one of Joker's henchmen.
Peering down, the goon was abruptly yanked from his perch, his descent arrested by a rope secured to his ankle. The commotion halted the other thugs in their tracks—they had been assaulting the hotel staff—just as the heroes made their appearance. A thug lunged at Batman with a knife but was swiftly neutralized by a knee to the face, rendering him unconscious.
Another attempted to punch Spider-Man, only to receive a swift kick to the face. Spider-Man then used his webs to sling one thug into another. Batman seized the moment, leaping and dispatching Batarangs that struck the assailants' heads, knocking them out cold.
Surveying the scene, they discovered additional hotel employees who had been killed, one distressingly bound to a rotating wheel in the corner. Their gaze then shifted to the opposite corner where two employees, still alive, trembled with fear as the heroes approached.
"Please… don't hurt me." One of them begged.
"We won't. We're here to help" Batman said.
That seemed to calm him down. "Okay. Please. Please, they've got my friends, holding them hostage in the overview bar."
"Where is that?"
"The suspended bar, between the towers."
"Thanks, don't worry we'll make sure your friends get home safe," Spider-Man said as they turned to leave.
Batman then walked over and opened the shutter door across from them. After they ran down the hallway and turned right, they came to a stop when they noticed the hallway in front of them was filled with TVs, barrels, and presents.
Suddenly the TV screens turned on to show Joker once again. "So, let's see! That's two hotel employees rescued for you two, and... oh my. I'm still WAAAAY ahead in the employees killed column. I know it's tempting with all these goodies lying around but don't go helping yourselves to a gift. They're not for either of you! There, there… Don't feel left out! I've got a special gift just for you two right up here… and it's wrapped in about four hundred pounds of muscle."
As the two walked over to the large open window, they spotted the overview bar above them.
Looking back at the other tower, they saw a roller coaster cart exit out of the building and followed the wooden tracks till it was out of view.
Is that what I think it is? Spider-Man internally questioned.
Directly across from them was an armed thug standing in front of a broken window. Spotting the anchor point above, Batman took out his Remote Claw and used it to create a line from their tower to the other. After grappling up to the line, Batman began to zip the line to the other side.
"Oh crap." The thug panicked as Batman kicked him in the chest, knocking him out.
As Spider-Man Joined Batman by his side, the TV monitors in the hall turned on to show Joker again. "Uh-oh, heroes. Hurry! Someone's about to get shot!" Joker gasped.
Taking the threat seriously, Spider-Man ran ahead before Batman could stop him. As soon as he turned the corner, his spider senses went off as an automatic gun started firing at him at the other end of the hallway. Spider-Man quickly jumped back behind the cover as the TV screens turned on again.
"Hahahaha! Looks like the one getting shot is you! Haha! Oh, a sucker born every minute."
"You alright?" Batman asked as he stood beside Spider-Man.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Damn, shoulda seen that one coming." He said, scolding himself.
Batman took out the Disruptor they got from the GCPD and deactivated the gun. With the gun off, the two noticed that three tugs had been standing behind a shutter door watching. Unfortunately for the thugs, the shutter door's generator was right next to the heroes.
"Well, this is unfortunate. For you, I mean. For me, it's, it's all entertainment!" Joker commented when he noticed the gun wasn't firing at the duo. As soon as Batman charged up the generator. The thugs came rushing out from behind the door.
Batman, with a swift movement of his cape, threw the heavily armored thug off balance, following up with a barrage of punches to the face and stomach. At the same time, a thug with martial arts prowess attempted to land a blow on Spider-Man, who deftly countered with a knee to the chin. Spider-Man then leaped behind another thug, cleverly using his webs to make the assailant punch himself out. In a flash, Spider-Man secured the martial artist to the ground with his webs, while Batman incapacitated the final adversary.
"Where'd Sionis find these guys? Oh sure, they talk a big game, but put any of them in the old electric chair and they bawl like little girls. Trust me. I've done the research. Ha!" Joker commented.
After entering through the laundry room, the duo found themselves in the West Tower's Ventilation Shaft.
"We need to get to the top of this ventilation shaft," Batman stated.
"On it. See you up there!" Spider-Man teased as he began wall-crawling up to the top, leaving Batman to find his own route. As the both of them moved, their comms picked up more SWAT chatter.
"6-2. Branden. Has Black Mask responded yet?"
"Negative. No word from him since he entered the building."
"Sonuvabitch Sionis thinks he can ignore us? What about Gordon?"
"We got him investigating a B n' E out at the abandoned amusement park. But word is Vicki Vale's got wind of this."
"Dammit. I'm almost there."
After reaching the top of the ventilation shaft, the two exited through the laundry room and continued through the hallways. Making a right, two more thugs were waiting at the end of the hallway with knives. Behind them was a dead body tied to the shutter door with a reindeer mask over his head being electrocuted. The thugs were easy to knock out with only a few strikes.
"Incredible. They really outdid themselves with this penthouse suite. The bathroom has three kinds of soap! I mean, who has time for all that cleaning!? I usually just hop into a vat of acid and call it a day." Joker's voice echoed through the loudspeakers around the hall.
Going through the door the thugs were standing next to, Batman and Spider-Man entered the West Tower's Ballroom, or as it had been renamed: Joker's Sleighride. Entering the room they couldn't believe their eyes as they saw...
"You... have got to be kidding me. An Amusement Park?!" Spider-Man shouted, flabbergasted. "How... I mean, how... how the hell can someone build all of this and not get red-flagged by the police? I could barely replace the toilet in my home without six police visits. But this guy could do all of this?"
Joker then appeared on the TVs next to them. " Like what I've done with the place? I know, I know. It's a bit much. What can I say? I can be a tad… compulsive from time to time."
"Me and my big mouth," Spider-Man whispered.
The space was a chaotic mix of roller coaster rails, the sounds of a carnival, and hastily put-together decor. Shaking off their surprise, the pair made their way down the neighboring elevator shaft. As they emerged, they spotted five thugs on the lower platform, surrounded by a fence that looked like the gaping maw of a sinister clown.
After dealing with the henchmen, the gate opened up. Inside, they discovered four of Joker's goons tied to chairs, each one hooked up to a contraption, with the floor below them covered in rising water. The machines turned on, sending electric shocks through the water, startling the prisoners. Suddenly, a countdown began, giving the heroes just ninety seconds to save the men.
"Where did I get all of this you ask? Well, I got a great deal on an out-of-service amusement park. Ooh, you should have seen the look on the real estate agent's face when we shook hands on the deal." Joker spoke using the loudspeakers once more.
"Well, that answers some questions," Spider-Man muttered.
Above them were two buttons that Batman was able to hit with his Batarangs. The two wooden panels above the buttons flipped open to reveal anchor points for Batman to use with his Remote Claw. After perching themselves on the line, Batman glided over to a wooden ledge that led to an entrance that was blocked by wooden boards. Using his Explosive Gel, Batman blew up the boards to enter. Spotting the control panel for the generators below, Batman quickly hacked it and was able to turn off the electricity just in time.
"Hmm… well technically that was cheating, but… ah, what can I say? I have a soft spot for cheaters! So bravo, you two. Bravo." Joker congratulated, stretching out that last part.
The two jumped down to the watery floor and exited the room. They climbed up a ladder that led to a wooden corridor that led to the inside of the clown head from earlier. Looking around, they realized that this was a dead end.
"HA! Nice try. No way out of there! Guess you'll just have to wait right where you are until I start sending the hotel guests through. Hoho! That'll be a scream. Hahahaha!"
"See a way out of here?" Spider-Man asked.
"Hold on," Batman answered.
Noticing the pressure panel, Batman stepped on it which caused one of the eyes of the clown head to generate electricity. To their right was a fuse box that was blocked off by bars, separating the room in two. Batman used one of his Remote Batarangs to send it through the eye and then through the other eye to hit the box. This caused a small part of the track above them to open, allowing them to escape.
"Aren't you resourceful? Now play fair. Don't make me take your little belt away."
Batman and Spider-Man followed the tracks until they were stopped by a gate. To their right was an open area for them to enter. Left with no inter options, the two walked in to see two of Joker's thugs strung up to an electrified fence in a nightmarish carnival water gun game. There were two pressure panels on the floor and eight clown head statues with balloons next to them.
"No, not again. Please." One of the men whimpered as the electricity turned off.
"Now this, this one I like to call Joker Says. And right now Joker says, you're going to make these poor men scream their heads off."
"What should we do?" Spider-Man asked.
"If we try to pull them out, they'll be electrocuted... we're going to have to play along," Batman answered as he stepped on one of the pressure panels.
Spider-Man followed after and stepped on the other one. The clown heads glowed a purple light in a pattern before the fence wall came down and the balloons filled with more air. The two popped the balloons with their gadgets in the order they glowed. After doing this two more times the game finally ended.
"They did it. Oh, God, they did it!" One of the thugs gasped before passing out.
The gate from earlier opened, allowing Spider-Man and Batman to continue along the tracks. Realizing that they couldn't follow the tracks anymore, the two jumped down onto another part of the tracks, right above more of Joker's thugs.
"I think the one little thing you both need to work on is that sense of humor. You haven't smiled once tonight. Maybe you have Spider-Man. I can't really tell with that mask of yours. You should probably get it fixed. And besides, you know what they say: A smile a day keeps the reaper away."
"Nobody says that," Spider-Man stated.
The thugs below them had no chance against the duo as they were quickly defeated. While the enforcer put up a good fight, he was quickly dealt with after Spider-Man used his webs to make him punch himself in the face. The loudspeakers activated as Joker had one more thing to tell them. "Feels like you guys should be done, doesn't it? You run roughshod through my Christmas attraction, and now you can't even find the door? The sad part is, that there is no door. That's right. NO ONE gets out. I'll admit, it kills repeat business, but then… so do the rides."
The two noticed a balcony for them to web/grapple up to and get a better look at their surroundings.
"You want to know the awful truth? I've only been here in Gotham for a few days and I've already accomplished so much more than Batman has in the, what has it been, two years that you two have been doing the whole costume thing? Roman Sionis? Gone. Loeb? Whoa. That guy was corrupt to the core. Got rid of him. That warden at Blackgate? Pretty sure he'll be facing charges after what I made him do. It's amazing what you can get done when you don't concern yourself with right and wrong. When you just… do things for a laugh. That's your problem, Batman, and it's hurting your efficacy; You're far too serious. You on the other hand Spider-Man, need to show your smile more. I mean you make all those quips so what's stopping you? You also share the same problem with the good old Bat."
Across from them to the left was another balcony that seemed to be their way out of the park. Spider-Man grabbed Batman around the side and used his webs to swing them over to it. Once landing, fireworks went off around them.
"I swear I will never see Amusement Parks the same again," Spider-Man said to himself.
"So. You've made it to the end of my little carnival ride. Unfortunately, you were both supposed to be dead by now. Will you excuse me while I just go shoot the architect? Come here… you little…" Joker seethed.
"Boss. Please! Don't! AAAGGGHHH!"
In the next room was another thug holding one of the Hotel's staff hostage at gunpoint.
"Thought you could hide from us, huh?"
"Please. Please don't!"
"C'mon. Back to the Bar."
"Why are you doing this?"
"I could just kill you here, but the boss likes to play this little guessing game with the splatter marks on the pavement. C'mon, move."
Suddenly he gets pulled back by a web before being thrown onto the ground and receives a punch to the head by Spider-Man, knocking him out.
The Hotel employee is frozen in fear as the two approach him. "Who are you guys?"
"We're here to help," Batman answers.
"There are more of them, they have my co-workers. They're… they're forcing them…"
"Don't worry. We'll get to them before anything happens."
"Okay. Hurry."
Upon reaching the overview bar, they found themselves in a room bustling with men and a heavily armored thug. Spider-Man and Batman took to the vents for a stealthy entry, popping out of separate ducts to catch their foes off-guard. Spider-Man quickly neutralized a henchman with a slick web-shot duo. Batman, with a swift move, grabbed another by the neck and pinned him down with authority.
The last standing armored foe caught their attention. With a nod of agreement, the duo sprang into action. Spider-Man's webs tangled the thug's feet, throwing him off balance. Batman, equipped with the Electrocutioner's gloves, landed a stunning electric blow to the thug's face, knocking him out cold.
"That was AWESOME!" Spider-Man said as he dangled on a web with Batman standing over the unconscious thugs in the Overview Bar. "Come on, give me a high-5."
"Now that the hostages are safe, we need to hurry to the penthouse, and stop the Joker," Batman said as he left the Spider-Hero hanging.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Spider-Man retorts as he drops from the web, giving himself a high-5 as he exits the bar.
On his left was a missing window pane that was being covered up with wooden boards. Seeing the way ahead was blocked off, Batman used his Explosive Gel on the boards. Now that they were exposed to the outside, they could spot the penthouse above them. It wouldn't be long for them to finally reach the Joker.
The two entered the East Tower through one of the windows that was open with a long red rug hanging down with bright green letters painted on it that said "Ho Ho Ho!" The heroes walked down the hallway and after opening another shutter door, the two entered the next room before freezing in place.
"S-Snowmen bombs?" Spider-Man asked in surprise. "That's just cold. Literally and figuratively."
All around the room were snowmen with explosive barrels built inside their bodies and wires reaching from the barrels to a single spot in the ceiling. Along with the bombs were more TV monitors.
"I've never seen anything like this," Batman said. In the right corner of the room was a timer set for New Year's Eve. "These bombs are set to detonate December thirty-first. I should be able to disarm them with my Cryptographic Sequencer."
"How convenient," Spider-Man mumbled as Batman moved to the control panel and began hacking the system.
Suddenly, Joker appeared again on the TV monitors around the room. "Oh, no! You found my snowman bombs." Joker dramatically gasped.
Batman easily entered the deactivation code into the panel, but before either of them could relax the timer quickly changed from seven days to 24 seconds.
"HAHAHAHAHA! You just couldn't wait til New Year's, huh? Guess the fireworks are going off early! HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Joker laughed through the monitors.
"What do we do!?" Spider-Man shouted.
Batman turned to his right and spotted their exit. "Out the window. Now!"
Batman dived through the window. Not really having any other option, Spider-Man followed after him. Both heroes saw that a news helicopter was above them and quickly attached themselves to it. Then the explosives went off causing the chopper to move.
"Good lord! I don't believe it! Tell me we're still getting this!" Vikki Vale reported on the air to the people at home.
"Yeah. We're still live." Said another voice.
"This is Vicki Vale reporting live from the Gotham Royal Hotel where there's just been a massive explosion! And now it appears that the Batman and Spider-Man have been blown from the building by the blast and are somehow hanging from the bottom of our helicopter!" As the chopper rose higher, more thugs were waiting on a balcony right below them. "Wait, what's this? Several armed men have gathered on a balcony."
"Those men have guns! We gotta go!"
"We wait for them to jump."
The duo of vigilantes descended onto the balcony, swiftly engaging the surrounding thugs as a news helicopter broadcasted the skirmish. Spider-Man fired two webs, which Batman electrified using his Electrocutioner gloves, stunning the men and turning them into makeshift projectiles for Spider-Man to hurl at others. Batman, with his grapple gun, pulled another thug towards him and delivered a knockout blow with his electrified gloves.
"After years of on-and-off unconfirmed sightings, with no recorded video, we've seen the Bat and Spider twice tonight and caught him on film! Could this be the turning of a new leaf for the Batman? Is he about to become a public figure? Why is the Spider from New York here in Gotham? Is he the Batman's new partner? One thing's for sure, after what I've seen them do tonight, these two will stop at nothing to rid this city of any evil that plagues this bizarre holiday. You saw it here tonight. The Batman and the Spider-Man on live television. This is Vicki Vale, signing off."
Suddenly a bullet hits the camera, breaking it. The helicopter flies off as the two continue to fight the Joker's crew. After a few of them were taken out, More men, who had been watching from another balcony above them, jumped down to join in. What really made them stand out was the fact that none of them were wearing clown masks or suits like the guys they were currently fighting. They were wearing dark, winter clothing and spoke in an accent.
"Who are these guys?" Spider-Man asks as he drop kicks one of them in the back towards Batman who knocks him down with a clothesline.
"Bane's mercenaries. Let's see what they got." He says as he activates his shock gloves.
"From the looks of it, not much." Spider-Man chimes in as Batman uppercut one in the air for Spider-Man to leap above and kick him back to the ground.
Spider-Man acrobatically flipped over, ensnaring a thug's neck with his legs and driving them to the ground. Meanwhile, Batman launched a flurry of batarangs and landed a solid kick on another, as Spider-Man, with a webbed fist, spun the thug into Batman's barrage of punches, taking them down. Throughout the night's defense of Gotham, the bond between the two heroes had strengthened, with Batman acknowledging the benefits of having allies.
"Well, that was a nice warm-up," Spider-Man commented as he stretched his arms to crack. "Now for the real challenge."
Once climbing up to the second balcony, they entered through the door to the fortieth floor. Scattered across the hallway were more dead bodies, this time more of Joker's men. As well as cards with Joker's face on them and more of the same painted footprints from the elevator when they entered the building.
The two slowly walked down the hallway, taking in everything they'd seen so far from the Joker tonight when Alfred called again. "I've just seen the explosion at the Gotham Royal on the news. The hotel guests, are they safe?"
"Not now, Alfred." Batman angrily replied.
"Sir? Are you alright? Your voice…"
"I'm fine, Alfred. I've dealt with psychopaths before but this…"
"Sir. I strongly suggest you call in Captain Gordon. He could be a valuable ally for you two."
"I don't need anyone else," Batman argued before hanging up.
Spider-Man hesitated to ask the Dark Knight if he was alright, but the stern look on his face stopped him. Since the poisoning incident and his return to the cowl, the Dark Knight had been stoic, yet Spider-Man detected a glint of anger in his eyes. Spider-Man himself wasn't faring much better after their ordeal. The Joker they faced was a different breed of monster, unlike any he had encountered before, even compared to foes like Psycho-Man, Kraven, Mysterio, and Ock.
Upon entering the East Tower's Swimming Pool, they found their path to the necessary elevator was directly below a balcony overlooking the pool's bar. The pool was a grim sight, its surface marred by floating corpses, and the walkway above was laced with mines. Hearing the approach of Bane's mercenaries, they quickly took refuge atop the room's gargoyles.
"I see the Joker's men here have been eliminated. Good work. But remember. Our primary objective is the Bat and Spider. We must remain vigilant."
"They will not get past us."
"And this is the only way to the penthouse."
"We can hope you are right. But only time will test your words. They are coming."
What they didn't know was that they were already here.
Three of the mercenaries were standing around a fire extinguisher when it suddenly exploded, creating a large cloud of smoke. The others quickly ran towards them but when the smoke cleared, all three had been laid out.
Two more mercenaries guarded the balcony over the bar, to keep an eye out on the other half of the room. Unfortunately, they forgot to look down as Batman smashed their heads on the railing and pulled them down, letting them dangle by a line attached to their legs.
"Attention shoppers! Batman and his little spider elf just took out another member of your crew. Clean up in aisle three." Joker's voice alerted.
"Did he just call me an elf? I am not small" Said Peter as he crawled to a gargoyle
When the mercenaries found the two, they began to panic.
"I should never have come here!" One of them screamed.
"I will kill both of you!"
"That's it. Arm the proximity mines in the gargoyles."
"Wait what?" Spider-man whispered before a beeping noise was heard from the gargoyle beneath him. He quickly web-zipped to the ceiling right before it blew up. While the mercenaries were distracted by the noise Batman came out of nowhere and kicked one of them and quickly knocked him out with a punch to the head.
The closest mercenary near him tried to fire his weapon but found it to be jammed. Batman fired his Batclaw at him and knocked him to the floor and knocked him out as well.
Before the last two mercenaries could start firing, Spider-Man came down on a web repel line and pulled them up to the ceiling before firing his web shooters at them as he fell towards the ground, trapping them in place.
"Branden to 6-4. I'm on-site at the Royal. Does anyone have eyes on Spider-Man or the Batman?" Batman heard Brandon through his earpiece.
"They're on their way up to the penthouse to meet Sionis."
"Good. When they come down, we'll be ready for 'em. Get in position."
The two entered the elevator and pressed the button to go up.
"You know they'll be expecting us, right?" Spider-Man said as they ascended.
"Hmm," Batman grunted as he looked up at the elevator hatch above them.
The elevator soon reached the penthouse floor and the doors opened with a ding. Bane walked in, looking around for the two but found he looked up and put both his hands through the elevator ceiling, grabbing both heroes and throwing them down on the floor.
"Ugh, has anyone told you you're really good at playing hide and se-ACK!" Spider-Man tried to joke before he and Batman felt two large hands wrap around their throats and lift them up.
Bane threw both of them at the wall behind him before picking them up again and smashing them into the walls left and right down the hallway. It finally ended when he chucked Spider-Man on the floor near a pair of double doors and then threw Batman at him as he tried to stand up. Both men crashed through the doors right at the Joker's feet, who was sitting in a chair with a bouncy red ball in his hand. The table next to him held a lot of dynamite detonation boxes that were decorated like presents. Kraven walked over and placed his spear around the throat of Spider-Man, stopping him from moving.
"It seems you are still alive. I should have expected that from my greatest prey." Kraven stated.
"Dude, you buried me, and I still managed to beat before you so that's saying something." Spider-Man croaked out.
"Nice of you two to drop by," Joker said as he bounced the ball on the table. "And just in time."
"They're ours, payaso," Bane declared before moving over and grabbing Batman roughly by his shoulder and about to grab Peter.
"Eh eh. Remember, you gave your word." Joker reminded them as he playfully tapped one of the detonator box's levers.
Bane punches Batman across the face before saying, "You have one minute."
Kraven snarled, released the spear away from Spider-Man's neck, and tried to get some oxygen back. "Then they belong to us."
"Do they even have manners where they come from? Especially that one with what is a dead animal around him He, he." Joker asked them as Bane and Kraven left the room.
"Probably not, but they probably make up for it by injecting whatever steroids he's on into each other." Spider-Man quipped.
"Ooh, sounds like fun." Joker giggled. "Anyway, it's a tradition in my house-" He said as he walked over both of them before circling back to the detonator boxes. "- to open one present each on Christmas Eve. Hmm… How about… this one?"
Joker then pulls the lever, and a thunderous explosion erupts from the building opposite them. Peering out the window, they witness the structure across the way collapsing while Joker's maniacal laughter fills the air.
"And a partridge in a pear treeeeeeeeeeee!" Joker sang before Batman sprang up to his feet and lifted Joker off the ground.
"How many lives did you just take?" He screamed.
"None, I think. That was just a little stocking-stuffer, a construction site blocking my view." He laughed before being set down, getting his head slammed on the table, and getting kicked over it.
As Spider-Man got back on his feet, his eyes went wide when Joker grabbed another detonator box.
"But this one isn't."
Before the Joker could press down on the lever, Batman quickly ripped it out and smashed him in the face with the box. Batman stood over the Joker as he grabbed a handful of his suit and began to strike pummel. He could only get two strikes in before suddenly Spider-Man was launched right at him, sending both men tumbling.
The perpetrator was revealed to be Bane, as he walked towards Batman and pinned him down with one hand. "I've long waited for this moment. With your death, I will find peace." He said before punching him in the back of the head. Then he lifted Batman over his head and chucked him out the window.
After finally recovering, Spider-Man ran over to the broken window as Bane leaped down to where the Dark Knight had crashed.
"Batman!" He yelled as he looked down. Then, his Spider-Sense suddenly spiked even though he couldn't see anyone behind him. Then Kraven's spear came flying and just scraped his hip as he dodged the strike. "GAHH!"