Batman kept hidden from the large gathering of inmates; his blue eyes
contained beneath the cowl lens scanning over how many hostages were
gathered in the center compared to the inmates surrounding them.
He then looked to Robin and made several gestures to silently
communicate with his partner. With an index finger extended and
thumb bent he indicated how many hostages. He then touched his
nose with the side of his index finger, tapped his chin, and laid his
hand flat in the air; moving it back and forth indicating how many
inmates.
Robin nodded, and touched his cheeks then tapped the sides of his nose
making a joke. Batman didn't smile, and Robin frowned.
Batman held his right arm against his chest, and then pointed toward
the way he came; with a circular motion made by his finger, Robin got
his intention.
So, with his instructions, Robin headed back the way he came and Batman
looked around the corner, but carefully so as not to be seen.
The Joker pivoted his hips and then dropped down in the driver's seat
of the Gotham City News van, a large grin on his face. He turned
the key and it roared to life; a nice V-8 engine and a strong heater
for the dreary winter season. He pulled out of the parking spot
and then drove through the loading dock that Jeremiah Arkham had
insisted on in the renovation of the asylum. It bypassed the old
grounds and around the police cordoned off area, allowing the Joker to
get far away as possible.
Summer Gleason lie on the floor a miserable wreck as the inmates looked
at her with their deranged eyes. She hid her face in shame and
fear. She wished she could be taken far away from the hellish
nightmare she was in. The Batman watched the inmates with Summer,
and then he eyed the clock on the far wall. Five minutes had
passed since Robin had went to pull off his part in the Batman's
plan. He grabbed flash bangs from a pouch in his utility belt and
prepared to enter the fray.
Just at that exact moment Robin crawled through a ventilation shaft and
checked every grating to see where in the asylum he was until he found
the control room for the communications systems throughout the
building, as well as the security systems. He eased the grating
off and took a peek; to his right was Blockbuster who was ignorant of
the boy wonder while to his right stood Killer Moth. Robin
covered his mouth as he started to laugh at the two he was to deal with
to enact the Batman's plan. He pulled two items from his vest.
One was a tranquilizer dart, the other was a blowgun. He lowered
himself just enough and shot a dart into Killer Moth's neck, which
caused the inmate to fall unconscious. He pulled himself up
quickly before Blockbuster saw him, and waited until Blockbuster
checked on Killer Moth, then loaded another dart and fired it into his
neck. Blockbuster became sluggish, but he noticed Robin this time
and grabbed him.
"Ugh! Stupid masked boy hurt Blockbuster, and now I's mad!"
"Not as hurt as you will be!" said Robin. His foot struck
Blockbuster in the jaw causing him to let go.
He landed palms first and swept Blockbuster's tree trunk sized legs out
from under him. The loud crash that followed had inmates outside
of the control room murmuring amongst themselves before rushing toward
the control room. Robin doubled up his fists and prepared to
fight, as five inmates rushed the room. His feet met the knees of
the first one through the door, and his elbow connected with the
inmate's jaw. A female inmate grabbed him from behind, but he
slammed his heel against her shin and used his judo training to throw
her into the other inmates. With all five down he started his
work with the communications system and got the speakers up and running.
The Batman continued to wait, hoping that Robin made it safe and sound,
and then he heard his partner's voice on the loud speakers.
"Hey, it's that time again!" he said with a cheery tone. "We proudly
bring to an Arkham near you, the Dynamic Duo!"
The inmates became antsy; Two-Face looked to the hostages and motioned
some of the inmates to guard them. He grabbed two pistols from
the gathered collection they had, and clicked the hammers back.
"It seems the cops brought in the bat and his robin. Let's fan
out and search the area."
"What about the hostages?" asked Killer Croc. He looked at Summer
Gleason with his tongue licking the corners of his mouth. "This
one in particular would make a fine meal."
"Not now, Croc."
Killer Croc growled, and slammed his fists together. "I'll stay
here and watch over them. Better than me wastin' my time."
"I'm not leaving you here with the hostages," said Two-Face. He
looked at the Ventriloquist. "You'll stay with him."
"M-me?"
"Yes, you." Two-Face aimed his gun at the Scar-Face puppet.
"I can always make kindling out of your puppet, if you think about
runnin'."
"Do it dummy!" said Scar-Face. "Do anythin' he sez!"
"All right, all right. I'll stay here with Croc."
The Batman watched as Two-Face left, then a slow smile formed on his
face. He held the flash bangs ready and waited until Killer Croc
had his back turned. When the moment presented itself, he ran
forward, and Ventriloquist squealed. Killer Croc turned back
around, and Batman tossed the flash bangs; blinding both of them.
"Argh!" said Killer Croc as he rubbed his eyes. "I can't see!"
"Me neither!" said Ventriloquist. He whined as he moved around
blinded.
"Youse dummies!" said Scar-Face. He waved his small dummy sized
gun in panic. "Get 'em!"
“Shuddup you stupi - ”
Killer Croc was silenced, as Batman's fist slammed into his jaw driving
it shut. He felt another fist connect with his ribs and another
to the side of his head. He crumpled to the floor out cold while
Ventriloquist walked around blind. Batman shot up his boot once
he came close knocking him out.
The Batman pulled a small radio transceiver from his belt, and pressed
the button on the side with his thumb.
“Robin, do you read me?”
“Yeah, boss. I read you.”
“I have the hostages. Rendezvous with me at the front
entrance of Arkham.”
“Understood, and make sure to leave some glory for me!”
The Batman shook his head, and placed the radio transceiver back into
his belt pouch as he looked over the hostages. Each one seemed
scared out of their wits. Then he noticed Summer Gleason on the
floor. He walked over to her and bent down to check her for signs
of injury, but she pulled away.
“You'll be all right, Miss Gleason. I've taken care of Killer
Croc and Ventriloquist.”
She looked up at the Batman, his face hidden by his half mask, the
short pointed bat ears, and the white lenses. His cleft jaw which
gave an impression of a stoic, if rugged demeanor.
“K...kill him!” she said. She grabbed his cape, which
was within reach. “Kill Two-Face!”
The Batman removed a pocketknife from his belt and stood; went over to
the other hostages and freed them. One of the nurses checked on
Summer while the Batman grabbed two pairs of handcuffs from the
collection of the security guards equipment to bind up Ventriloquist
and Killer Croc.
“What are you going to do next?” asked a guard; his short
brown hair half painted pink. “These freaks are all over
the place. I mean, look what the did to my hair!”
“I'm going toward the front. There are hostages in the
front and I have to free them as well.”
The Batman finished his work handcuffing Killer Croc and Ventriloquist
together. He then stood up and ran toward the hallway, as the
guards gathered their equipment.
Robin ran, as hundreds of inmates chased him. A bedeviled grin was on
his face, and he had a security guard's nightstick in his right
hand. He came around a corner when Two-Face noticed him, and
pointed his left handgun at him. Robin veered to the right dodging the
bullet, and then left dodging the other bullet.
“Damn you, bird boy!”
“Don't damn me, I can't help that I'm awesome!”
Robin spun the nightstick and smashed both of Two-Face's hands, which
caused the former district attorney to drop the guns. A swift
kick to the face knocked him on his ass, and Robin made a break for
it. The inmates saw Two-Face out cold on the floor; then ran past
him after the boy wonder. Robin was ahead of them, but it didn't
matter in the long run since he glanced at a map diagram that showed he
was heading toward a dead end. He slowed down, and looked for a
ventilation shaft to crawl through. When he noticed an elevator
that had only an up button he pressed it, and waited for the car.
He could hear the coming crowd of inmates, and he tapped his
feet. Finally, the car came, and he jumped inside and tapped
sub-basement 1.
It took a few moments, and then a ‘ding’ let Robin know
that the car made it to the sub-basement floor 1. When the doors
opened, he came out and looked both ways before running down the
hall. Seven inmates stood before the elevator that led to the
upper first floor where he would meet Batman. He slowed down when
the inmates saw him, and ran toward him. He ran the opposite way
toward the reception room where the inmates were registered. He
realized if he was going to meet up with Batman, he would have to elude
these inmates.
With a deft sidekick, Batman knocked down Firefly, and spun around
driving the back of his fist into Mad Hatter's face. He looked
them both over to make sure they were breathing, and then raced to the
front door. It was there that he found the gathering of inmates
who held hostages in front of the trained marksmen of the GCPD SWAT
Unit. Batman came toward one of the support columns and knelt low
so as to avoid the searchlight focused on the inmates, and he was far
enough away that he perfectly blended into the shadows. He pulled
a tear gas grenade from one of his pouches, and waited a few moments
with hopes that Robin would arrive.
When those moments passed, he decided to proceed, and tossed the tear
gas grenade. The fumes had the inmates and the hostages hacking
and coughing, and unable to see. The Batman ran in, disabling two
of the inmates with applied pressure point strikes. He then tried
to take out two more, but one of inmates got a bead on him with a
gun. A batarang sailed through the air, and caused the inmate to
misfire. Then a SWAT sniper took the inmate down. The
Batman made his move and tossed a bat bolas tripping up the last two,
and then went over with his pocketknife to cut the hostages free.
Robin came over; running as fast as his feet could carry him with a
horde of inmates behind him. When the inmates made it to the
front door, the Batman stood there with his cape wide open; spread like
wings. He closed his cape, and two SWAT officers appeared on
either side of him; then two more, and four more after that.
The inmates raised their hands in defeat, as the SWAT officers had them
in their sights. Robin came over and saluted Batman with a smile
on his face, but the Batman only grimaced.
Commissioner Gordon walked up to the Batmobile after they had gathered
the inmates. Batman and Robin were standing by assessing their
spent equipment. Commissioner Gordon tapped his pipe against the
palm of his hand, and then put some more tobacco in it, and lit it.
“Is everyone accounted for?” asked the Batman.
“Yes, all save the Joker.”
The Batman lowered his head, then buttoned the last of his
pouches. He closed the hidden compartment of the Batmobile, which
kept spare equipment.
“We'll track him down, you tend to Arkham.”
“All right. By the way,” said Commissioner Gordon
with a grimace on his face. “Summer Gleason; what did she
say to you?”
The Batman looked at Commissioner Gordon, then hopped in the Batmobile.
“Nothing...”
The Batmobile peeled out, and Commissioner Gordon turned back to look
at Arkham wondering what set off the Joker to cause such destruction.
To
Be Continued... Next
Issue:The conclusion, what
does the Joker have planned for Gotham this time? And can the
Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder hope to prevent it?
