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The Batman: Downfall Ch. 01

By: DriftWood75



Abandoned labs of Doctor Jason Woodrue, 8:01pm

"Pamela Isley," the words felt odd on her tongue, "Doctor Pamela Isley," the title made little difference to how the words felt as they passed over her full, ruby red lips. The name was as foreign as her past life, the life she led until that fateful night when....the name was hazy it was there stored in the back of her brain. At last it came, Doctor Jason Woodrue, the man that had changed Pamela's life forever with one single injection that had almost killed her and driven her insane. She laughed at the last part, insane! Clarity was what had been bestowed upon her not a breakdown of her cognitive functions but the shrinks at Arkham Asylum disagreed, but that was men for you, what did she expect?

Poison Ivy was born the night Pamela Lillian Isley died and it was for the best. Now she had power, now she had clarity, now she had a purpose even if the winged freak tried to stop her once in a while. Ivy ran one long gloved finger along a work bench the dust gathering beneath her touch in a ball as she slowly slid it along the wooden surface, "stop me or seduce me I can never tell nowadays." Ivy muttered to herself as her finger drew an outline of a bat in the dust. She admired her handy work before viciously running her finger in a cutting motion across the dust drawing, severing head from body. "The Bats loss I guess, not mine."

The crashing sound that came from the other side of the lab door broke Ivy from her thoughts. The swearing that followed made Ivy's lips curl into a wry smile. There were not many humans that she trusted but this one, she was different. Ivy Leaned back on the work bench awaiting her guest, she didn't even flinch when the door to the lab was kicked open, "Where are you, you green bitch?" the voice was high and carried that distinct Brooklyn twang that Ivy found adorable.

Harley Quinn stormed into the lab, her head swinging left to right, the twin pony tails on either side of her head flicking this way and that as she did so. Her white face paint looked paler still in the full moonlight that streamed in through the skylight, her black lips even darker and her eyes just as black with her make up. "You murdered Bob you bitch!" Harley shouted out.

"Don't worry, I am sure Joker has plenty of henchmen to fill his void," Ivy said in her southern drawl, her smile widened as Harley finally saw her across the lab. Ivy reached up putting her hands behind her head a flicking her long red hair up so it cascaded down in light curls across her bare, pale green shoulders, the temptress resplendent. Her smile faltered as Harley came bounding over to her, the fist that connected with the side of Ivy's face drew a gasp of surprise and Ivy clung to the work top to remain on her feet. 

"That was for Bob." Harley said, biting back tears.

Ivy reached up and rubbed the swollen lump that had only seconds ago been her cheek, "I guessed that much." When Harley went to throw a punch again Ivy was prepared and caught Harley's wrist. You could never tell with Harley what would set her off and Ivy had no idea that seducing, giving a message and unfortunately poisoning one of the Jokers lackeys would be enough to make the small, perfectly formed time bomb explode. "I had little choice; I needed to see you and could not leave a trail." Ivy said as explanation.

"You could have just told bob the message, what did you do," Harley shook Ivy's grip loose and took one step back, "Fuck him then give him the message, 'oh by the way you have only two hours to live, but thanks for the cock!'" her voice had gone falsetto in a terrible mimic of Ivy.

Ivy stood straight and laid one gloved hand on Harleys shoulder, "no need for vulgarity Quinn, it was a kiss, a sweet one at that." Ivy did not show much compassion for humans especially males, but the one called Bob had done her no ill, none that she knew of anyway, so his last kiss had been long and lingering, his death quick and painless once the message had been received.

"Well Bob was one of the good guys, we were close." Harley shrugged the hand from her shoulder and crossed her arms about her. Ivy raised one eyebrow at the last part. "Not close like that, Mr J. would have had him killed. Friends close, but you don't know what friends are, do you Ivy?"

Ivy could have let the comment slip but her mouth was already open and her reply flowed forth, "Ah yes only one man for my Harley Quinn, good old Joker. Has he shown you his Kazoo yet?"

"Mr J. and me don't need sex, what we have is deeper than that." Ivy was amused to see Harley pouting as she spoke and felt slightly bad for mocking her so stingingly even if she did have it coming. 

Seeing Harley Quinn almost vulnerable thawed Ivy and she stepped closer pulling the woman into a hug. She smiled as she felt Harley's hands entwine behind her, "We should not be fighting Quinn." The arms about her tightened and Ivy reciprocated, "I have missed you."

Harley pulled free from the hug surprising Ivy. "Yeah about that, you got out of Arkham three months ago. No phone call, no email, not even a candy gram. Until tonight," The pout this time was for show Harley Quinn was always one for theatrics. "I thought we had something special." Her voice was weak, but her eyes narrowed and the viper smile gave away Harley's little act.

Ivy pulled one glove off slowly as she spoke, the elbow length glove sliding off her thin long fingers, "We do Harley, something very special," Ivy pulled the second glove off just as slow. "There's not many like you in the world," Ivy dropped the gloves to the ground and put her bare hands on the black corset clad waist of Harley Quinn. At six foot Ivy stood six inches taller than Harley and she looked down at her white faced, wide eyed lover. Her hands moved in, finding the corset strings.

"I' m not that easy you know," Harley retorted. "You still killed Bob and I am still pissed off about that." Ivy leaned in, her full red lips, meeting Harleys black lips. Harley's mouth parted willingly and Ivy's tongue explored.

Harley felt overly warm, her corset making it hard to breathe, and the deep lingering kiss making it even harder. Harley could feel her sex tingling even though all she wanted to do was strike out again at Ivy for being so callous her body was one coiled muscle, yet Ivy paid no attention to how worked up Harley was, she just kept kissing her as her hands worked the knots and loops of the corset. In one fluid motion Ivy lifted Harley onto the workbench and Harley eagerly opened her legs allowing Ivy to slide between them and continue their kissing. 

The corset finally gave way, Harley breaking the kiss to take a much needed gulp of air. Ivy remained patient as Harley pulled the Corset free, Harley relished the sight of the fire that ignited in Ivy's eyes at the sight of her pale breasts, pink nipples already growing erect with excitement became solid mass of pink flesh when the cool night air enveloped them.

Ivy was trying to be patient or atleast as patient as she could be, it had been such a long time since Harley and she had been alone together like this. Yet it still felt like someone had hit fast forward, time was short she knew phase one of her plan should have been in action but the moment she had seen her little firecracker come bounding into the lab all that had been forgotten. Now here they were, with Harley topless her perfectly round breasts sitting high on her small frame with nipples that begged to be kissed.

Harley's fish net stockings ended at her shapely thighs, the plaid school dress that Harley had on barely covered her upper thighs and with her now sat on the table it had ridden further up to reveal a rather bright neon pink thong covering her sex. Ivy kissed one of Harley's stocking clad feet, the next kiss caressed her ankle, then her shin and up past her knee and along her bare inner. Ivy's next kiss was light and placed in the centre of the pink thong which sent a shiver up and down the length of Harley.

In one fluid motion Ivy pulled and then slipped off the thong Harley's trimmed bush (the ace of spades of all things!) was now exposed, her labia parted and damp with excitement, her breathing was already heavy and she moaned with expectation.

Ivy did not hesitate, it had been far too long for both of them and slipped one long finger into Harley who collapsed back on the table, arms above her head and let out a long moan as the finger slipped easily into her then bent slightly connecting with the hard ribbed area above her entrance. Ivy leaned in her tongue running along Harley's labia, further up and finding the hard little nub of her clitoris, her first playful lick causing Harley's legs to spasm and for her to cry out in pleasure with little yips and gasps.

Harley thought she was going to explode her whole body was on fire , all that remained of her outfit were her elbow length mismatched red and black gloves and the wisp of fabric that made up her plaid, pleated skirt yet her body felt suffocated, the air about her had been cool but was now too thick and cloying. Her pale chest was a deep crimson above her breasts which she now cupped and pulled on her hard nipples. Harley's hips had started to grind and gyrate creating an ebb and flow effect of Ivy's tongue on her clitoris. Ivy reacted swiftly remaining still letting her lover to continue to her destination. Ivy could taste Harley's juices on her tongue could feel the slickness of her chin as she moved her head slowly back, her finger was nothing more than a wet, sticky mess still buried inside of Harley with a shuddering moan that started low and increased rapidly, Harley reached her crescendo with a shuddering groan, her legs kicked mindlessly and her buttocks lifted from the table as her orgasm ignited. 

Words had become meaningless between them now, Harley sat up and then stepped, unsteadily off the table, her legs still shaking from her orgasm and Ivy was already removing her own clothes. A green unitard that was more see thru than Pamela Isley would have dared worn, but that was just one of the many allures of Poison Ivy. Compared to Harley, Ivy's breasts were immense. Heavy pale green globes of flesh topped with dark, almost bark in colour areola and thick nipples, mother earth made flesh. Underwear was nothing to Ivy and as the Unitard dropped to the dirt littered floor her full bush a blazing red that matched her hair became visible. Ivy opened her mouth to speak but Harley moved quickly, grabbing Ivy who gasped and spinning her around. Her hands reached out grasping a table opposite and stopping her from falling any further.

Harley reached round, her hands hardly able to maintain the heavy hanging flesh that was Ivy's breasts. The hard, thick nipples pressed against her palms as she squeezed hard eliciting another gasp from Ivy. Harley's orgasm was still producing aftershocks throughout her body as she leaned against Ivy, feeling her hot skin against her own. She squeezed the breasts again and pushed her sex against Ivy's ample backside. Harley knelt down, eager to reciprocate the pleasure that Ivy had just given her, she buried her face deep into the warmth, she could smell her deeply and her tongue found the taste of her woody and arousing as it darted between thick labia. 

Ivy pushed back, moaning out as tongue was replaced with fingers a louder moan followed as she felt Harley's tongue probing her anus. She wanted to reach around to let Harley feel her hand on her head but she was scared of letting go of the table and collapsing into a quivering pile. Ivy ground down onto Harley, tongue pushing into her anus as fingers darted back and forth slick with her juices. Ivy's moaning turned to a sudden gasp as Harley delivered a sudden stinging slap to one ample bottom cheek. "That's for Bob," Harley said in a husky voice, another slap on the other cheek and another gasp from Ivy, "That one was for not calling me." 

With the fingers of one hand slipping in and out of Ivy one moment, the next toying with her clitoris Harley's other hand delivered stinging smacks to each cheek until the skin had reddened. Ivy's legs shook and her knees threatened to give way at any moment. Harley smacked Ivy's cheeks one last time, the hand remaining on her bare rump feeling it's warmth before sliding between them, finding her puckered anus and pushed a finger in. Ivy turned her head, red hair matted to her forehead and her pale cheeks rosy with colour, "please," she pleaded to Harley and bit her full bottom lip as the fingers in her sex gave way to Harleys tongue and mouth. 

Ivy turned back and lowered her head and ground down further adding a little more pressure onto Harley's her head her hips pushing back forcing Holly's tongue firmly into her while a finger danced on her clitoris. "Fuck!" Ivy exclaimed one hand pulling at her right nipple as she closed in on her orgasm. Ivy's hips bucked back her cry loud in the abandoned lab. Harley's thumb moved slowly back and forth in her tight anus as the lone finger on Ivy's clitoris tipped her over the edge. Moans and cries mixed with husky breaths and yelps as Ivy came to a shuddering orgasm that travelled through her exploding in muscles and travelling across her skin in tiny electrical currents that intensified across her hardened, sensitive nipples that left them tingling. 

The floor was dirty, covered in debris and probably droppings from rodents but with Harley curled up next to her with one hand cupping one of Ivy's heavy pale green breasts Ivy did not care in the least. The silence was broken when Harley finally spoke, "You didn't get me all the way here just so we could screw. What's your real angle?"

Ivy smiled and gave a soft chuckle, "I have a plan," Harley groaned loudly and sat up, Ivy sighed at losing the warm hand on her breast. "It's a good one, I promise."

Harley was on her feet, she bent over gathering her clothes and Ivy felt herself tingle deep down at the sight of Harleys round backside, smooth and toned and within easy reach if she dared to reach out. "Not this time Ivy, two years." Harley stood up straight her clothes a messy bundle in her arms as she turned around. "I have been outta jail for two years, Mr J's been real good to me even the Bats has cut me a little slack." Harley dumped her cloths on the work bench and grabbed the neon pink thong from the pile, she tottered on one stocking clad foot as she tried to slip it on while she spoke, "Whatever the plan is, count me out." She put her foot down and lifted the second foot feeding the thong onto it while staring at Ivy.

"You haven't even heard my plan yet," she leaned on her elbows, hoping that the sight of her naked body and heavy breasts was enough to slow Harley down from storming out. 

"I know your plan, it's the same plan as everyone else's," Harley grabbed her plaid skirt and muttered a profanity as her own gloves fell to the ground. "You want to kill batman,"

"No not this time." This made Harley stop in her tracks, "I have a much better idea." She held out one hand and Harley helped her to her feet. "We've all tried to kill him, I want to embarrass him, show the world that he is just like every other man, weak and base in his desires." She put a hand on Harley's bare shoulder and walked slowly behind her. "You see the Riddler has it right. He never plans on killing Batman he enjoys tormenting him, trying to make him look stupid. If it weren't for his massive Ego, he could have finished Batman off years ago." 

Ivy's hands ran down Harley's arms and moved in, cupping her slender waist just above her thong. "What did you mean when you said desires?" Harley asked.

Ivy pulled herself in closer, her breasts squishing into Harley's back she smiled as Harley pushed back acceptingly, "Just that my dear. He is not really a Bat, just a man in a silly costume." 

Harley gave a loud whip crack bark of a laugh, "He's not the only one!"

"Very true, that costume has a weakness, the man inside it. What does Batman have in common with every other man?" Ivy's question was met with a shrug, "He has a cock. And cocks tend to get men into trouble, a lot."

Harley turned around, it was like being in a permanent state of arousal when she was around Ivy, even now, with talk of the Batman and her crazy plan all Harley wanted to do was spread Ivy on the work table and bury her face between her legs. "You want him to have sex?" Ivy nodded in reply, "I am going to dislike this next question but, who with?"

"You!" Ivy replied and Harley's laugh peeled out loud and clear.

"Oh honey, the Batman won't go near my merchandise," Harley leaned in and whispered into Ivy's ear, "I'm one of the bad guys remember?"

Ivy nodded, "exactly, what better way to show the Batman for what he is, buried deep inside one of the people he claims to oppose. No amount of talk would get him out of that jam. He would be ridiculed by all, made a mockery of and shown to be nothing more than weak pathetic man like all the others."

"You're talking about a sex tape." Harley shook her head, "that's crazy."

"Exactly, it's too crazy, too stupid and too childish. He wouldn't see it coming from criminal masterminds, no we all do things on a grand scale," Ivy began to pace back and forth as she spoke, "and he catches us every single time. We escape and do it all over again like trained simians."

Harley wanted to reiterate the whole crazy thing again but found she was nodding slowly and agreeing with what Ivy was saying. It was true, even now Joker was planning a heist of his own involving exploding birthday cakes and a trap for his old friend the Batman, a grand scheme to stoke his own inflated ego, he was playing to type, "Ego," Harley said and Ivy smiled wide, "Put ego aside and do something different, something so simple..."

"He wouldn't see it coming." They said in unison.

Gotham City, 12:59am

Above the streets of Gotham a figure sat hunched in the dark, hardly moving except for its head as it scanned the city streets below. It was a man that had brought fear to the criminals of Gotham who, for the most part had the Gotham Police Department brought and paid for. But He was above that, He had shown the criminals that not all of Gotham would lie down and take a beating, to the police He had become an embarrassment, catching criminals and stopping crimes at an alarming rate that made the mayor and other officials of Gotham question their ability to Police. He had become a symbol for hope to the many that walked the streets below him, a fearful symbol, a bat, a Batman.

Cramp was the worst part of all this Bruce said to himself, he sat stock still hunched over watching the street lamp lit roads and walkways of Gotham city ten storeys beneath him. He slowly risked stretching one leg out, wincing in pain as the cramp dug in deep one black clad arm reaching out to steady the bulk of his armoured body. Bruce stretched his toes feeling the relief almost straight away with a sigh he moved his leg back into position. It was closing in on one in the morning the moon was full which meant he had little need for night vision. His ear piece buzzed with police radio chatter, small crimes and domestic arguments summed up the night. 

Without taking his eyes off the street below Bruce reached across to his wrist and tapped a quick familiar code, the radio chatter died immediately and a double click a second or two later confirmed he had made a clear connection, "Alfred, looks like I get to have a lie in this morning."

"That is a rather uncommon occurrence during a full moon sir." The Wayne families Butler Alfred replied.

Bruce had to admit for a full moon Batman had seen little trouble. The crazies always enjoyed the full moon and to type always decided it was the best time to come out and play. Bruce rose up, his hooded figure cut a dramatic vision to anyone who was watching, the Batman still caused kids to gasp and cheer and adults to do the same with equal gusto. He was a symbol of hope that Gotham needed, but Batman still needed to sleep. "I'm coming in." He tapped his wrist again cutting the feed, a second later the police band came back with an alarming amount of noise and chaos almost deafening him.


The Batman: Downfall Ch. 01



"Come on Bullock!" Travis shouted from the driver's seat of his car, he had already stuck the blazing blue bubble to the roof the moment the radio erupted. Now he sat impatiently waiting on his partner Harvey Bullock to get his ass out of the coffee shop. "Finally!" he snapped as the bear of a man came stumbling out of the coffee shop with two over flowing cups that splashed over his bare hands causing him to swear and toss the Styrofoam cups to the ground.

"God damn it, what is it?" Harvey shouted in anger as he trotted over to the car.

"We got a Terrorist attack at the chemical plant." Travis said gunning the engine as Bullock got in. He tossed a hastily scribbled note onto Bullocks lap, "A toxin has been used to take out the guards, don't know if they are alive or dead, but one guy managed to get the call out before he got caught." 

Bullock scanned the short hand note, just about making out what had been said. "Says here one perp?" Travis nodded, as Bullock slowly read on he groaned audibly, "female, red hair, green in colour...ah Christ what is it with these costume freaks?"

Travis laughed and looked in his rear view mirror, "Speaking of which." 

Bullock had no need to look behind them, the noise was loud and building in ferocity was all the clues he needed to guess who was coming up behind them. He could feel the engines rumble in his bones, it made his head hurt the louder it got. He looked out of his window just as the black car sped past causing Travis to suddenly veer into another lane before quickly righting himself. "Fucking Batman, that's just great." Bullock grabbed the radio transmitter with one fat hand, his eyes remaining on the tail lights of the rapidly dwindling car. "Dispatch this is Bullock, wake up old man Gordon will ya'?"

Travis spared a quick glance over at his partner, "Why you getting the Commissioner up?"

"Because I need to know if I can shoot that creep on sight instead of yelling stop at him again." Bullock replied slamming the radio transmitter down.

Gotham Axis Chemical Plant 1:40am

The Gotham Chemical plant was treated almost like the cities dirty little secret, crossing the Vincefinckel Bridge brought you out to an old wooded area a quick drive brought you to the smog and fume enshrouded plant. The ground around it arid and dead, it lived up to being Gotham's dirty little secret well. The Batmobile ploughed down a gentle sloping hill, lights off and foot held high above the accelerator as Batman looked beyond the windshield at the already arrived police vehicles, two swat vans and five police cars, with more arriving from the north and across the bridge behind the Batmobile. 

A small access road appeared to Batman's right and without hesitation he turned into it hundred meters down he came to a stop and killed all power. The full moon was not a problem now that heavy cloud had rolled in casting moving shadows across the field between Batman and the chemical plant. He approached quickly, the weight of his black body armour suddenly forgotten as his training kicked in. Police officers were already fanning out around the plant, stopping anyone leaving or entering. Batman crouched down, night vision on picking out the ethereal shapes of armed officers moving with little grace and flashlights that would leave them night blind. After a minute the sporadic movement calmed down and he picked the perfect spot to climb the chain link fence.

Officer Warren had only been a Gotham City law enforcer for a year and in that time had never seen the Batman. He had heard the stories, what rookie didn't? His son always asked him when he came home after his shift "Daddy did you see him? The Batman was he there." The reply was always "No," yet his six year old would ask him again the next day with the same excitement. 

So it was with surprise that he lifted his torch at the sight of the man who suddenly came leaping out of the tall brush not more than ten feet from him. Officer Warren lifted his torch the light picking out pointed ears, a long cape and a face half covered by a black mask. The idea of who it was registered but long after the torch in Officer Warren's hand shattered suddenly causing him to drop it with a gasp. The man pushed him aside with one black gloved hand, the sharp teeth on it catching some shirt and ripping it then he was over the fence with fluid ease and lost in the shadows of the chemical plant. Officer Warren reached up to his chest and pressed the side of his radio transmitter, "This is ah, this is Officer Randy Warren and well...you see...Batman's here he's just gone into the plant." He depressed the switch then looked at the rip in his shirt his son would go bananas over this.

Gordon rubbed his finger and thumb either side of the bridge of his nose, eyes closed as the rookie ended his transmission, "What was wrong with my instructions to keep people out, especially the Batman?" The officers around him looked at one another and shrugged.

One Captain cleared his throat then said, "Well it's not the first time Commissioner, who knows maybe he can stop her."

Jim Gordon rounded on the Captain, "That's my point, it should be us in there stopping her not Him." He had spent yesterday afternoon in the mayor's office trying to explain once again how the Batman was not actually helping but hindering the G.C.P.D, three hours later he had been given the ultimatum once again that the Batman was to be stopped and that the G.C.P.D needed to start catching criminals once more. "Get the swat teams in there," he spun back around to a map of the chemical plant that was spread out on the hood of a police cruiser, "Alpha team in the rear and Bravo team providing distraction going in through the front."

The blaring car horn made Gordon turn around again, the brown sedan skidding to a halt and the unmistakable overweight figure of Harvey bullock stepped out of the passenger seat, "Gordon, dispatch told me you were here, you move quick for an old guy." He said as he approached.

Gordon clenched his jaw, his teeth snapping together as he tried to calm himself down over this man's lack of respect for him, "No Bullock, you're just slow, as usual."

Bullock thumbed behind him, "Blame it on twinkle toes there, he didn't want to be speeding on the Bridge." Bullock pushed past the small group of officers, ignoring there tuts and hard stares. He looked down at the map on the hood of the car, "Is he here yet?" Gordon looked up at him, "Batman is he here?" Gordon nodded and Bullock pulled his revolver from off his belt. He had already heard from one of his sources that the Mayor had asked for Batman to be put down, he was now just wondering if Old man Gordon would have the balls to give the order.

"Both teams have the order to shoot on sight," Gordon wanted to wipe the big fat smile off of Bullocks face it was shit eating grin from the worst cop on the payroll. Bullock barged past the officers again and made his way round the patrol car heading towards the entrance to the chemical plant. "Where the hell are you going?" Gordon shouted after him.

"I'm going to kill me a bat!" Bullock shouted over his shoulder.

"Shouldn't we stop him sir?" The police Captain asked.

Gordon shook his head, "No leave him to it, who knows he might just get caught in the crossfire," Gordon could not hide the small smile that was spreading beneath his moustache, "one less crooked cop to worry about." The officers around him exchanged guilty glances.

Poison Ivy tapped her fingers impatiently on the guard rail of the platform she was standing on. The fumes in here were making her weak and sick. She had been here almost half an hour, the guards she had knocked out would not be bothering her, they still had a couple of hours to sleep off but they would be lucky to wake up at all if Ivy had her way. 

She looked down again at the huge vats of chemicals, a disgusting mix of agents that would make more earth destroying plastics and other such rubbish that man would consume and chuck aside without any regrets. It was an irony that what she sought something so natural would be found in a lab in such a desecration of Gaia as this chemical plant. Ivy could not help herself and reached into the small bag strapped to her waist, brushing past a smooth box with a switch to the vial that was her true reason for being here, her fingers ran across the smooth glass. "Oh what fun we are going to have my little Harley Quinn." Ivy mused to herself.

"Waiting for someone?" The gruff voice broke her out of her trance and caused her to spit angrily at her own weakness. Batman was crouched on the platform his feet curled beneath him on the guard rail, sitting there like a bird of prey. "An odd place for a first date isn't?"

Poison Ivy laughed, "Honey for odd people like us this is perfect." She had hardly finished the sentence when he leapt forward with blinding speed. Arms thrust forward to grab her, Ivy leaned back her body slipping over the guard rail sending her into free fall, the rope that held her to the rail pulling taunt at the last second, almost snapping a rib but allowing her to land with some grace onto the metal grated floor beneath. She looked up at the masked face staring down at her as she cut the rope free, "Need to be faster than that Batman." She hurried further along the walkway between the giant green vats, the sound of heavy boots landing behind her echoing off the vats as she moved swiftly. 

She turned one corner then doubled back behind the vats, slapping small devices to the individual vats, a red light blinking to life as they stuck. She went to stick the last device but a heavy hand from the shadows reached our wrapping round her wrist and tightening like a vice. Ivy was prepared and lifted her head, face to face with the Batman. The spoors on her lips quivered as she puckered up then blew them off gently right into his face. 

It was as she did this she noticed the funny mask that now covered the Bats mouth, the spoors landing harmlessly on the breathing apparatus, she let out a hiss and felt a stinging blow on her face as he slapped her, "You're not supposed to hit a lady," she spat out.

"You're no lady," he replied sounding metallic and amplified. It was all the time she needed, her legs wrapped around his arm that still held her hand, she yelled and spun pulling him from his feet, unsteady with the sudden change in tactics from her. She landed hard on her back feeling the jolt of a joint in the Bats arm popping and the unmistakable gasp of pain from behind the mask, she scrambled to her feet and darted away from him. She watched him scramble to his feet, his arm dangling in a bad way. "Why were you waiting for me?"

Poison Ivy had the story laid out, and most of it was true as well, "Because I wanted you to see who has bested you for the last time." Ivy held up the detonator from her little bag, "no countdown, no wires to cut, I hit the switch the place goes up in flames. Batman dies and the sins of Gotham are paid for."

"Sins of Gotham?" he asked and moved one foot forward.

"This plant is a curse on Gaia, it expels more toxins than most third world countries it kills without mercy the life that Gaia has nurtured." Ivy could feel herself getting into the speech a little too much, ego was a terrible thing and she so desperately needed to stay on the right side of it. The Batman was creeping forward, clearly hoping that Ivy would be distracted in her proclamation, a few more steps was all she needed from him. "One flick of the switch and this place burns to the ground and Gaia can reclaim it once more." Her speech was done and yet he lingered, perhaps she had done more damage to him than she had realised. No matter.

His arm throbbed, it was not fractured just dislocated and severely pulled but that was bad enough. He hopped Ivy had more to say, the swat team was only just getting into the room now. If her detonator really did set the explosives off instantly then everyone was as good as dead. Ivy looked up at the sound of running feet above her and he leapt forward, good arm reaching out grabbing her hand, putting his finger between hers and the switch. "Not this time Ivy," he said.

"Sorry honey, this time indeed." She jolted forward her head connecting with his hard mask it sent her flying back but also separated the two of them. Blood was already running from the open wound on her head, looking almost black in the gloom, she smiled in victory and hit the button. And hit again and again...nothing. Ivy screamed in anger and fled down the walkway.

Ivy counted down the seconds in her head, the exit was just ahead but her vision was blurry, he had jumped her too quickly, the head-butt was ill advised but she had no breathing room for anything else. She deserved an Oscar for her scream of betrayal too, but the acceptance speech would have to wait, the exit was still twenty feet away and she had reached the five second mark, now four seconds. The swat team were screaming out, she could hear gun fire yet she felt not a single bullet graze past her or bounce of the metal walkway beneath her.

Two seconds...one Second....detonate.

The blast knocked her off her feet, her head smacking off the walkway, her vision swam with black blooms as she scrabbled to find something to hold onto the floor tipped sideways, the metal buckling as the containers spilled their contents. The heat was intense, the soles of her feet burnt and the skin blistered, Ivy found a hand hold and pulled herself up, the whole room was ablaze the sprinkler system was on but the chemical flames were impervious to their weak spray. Ivy limped through the exit, the door no longer attached. 

The Bat moved quickly up, his grappling gun putting another floor between him and the swat team before the explosions came. He had ducked as the first peal of bullets had thundered past him, the next wave held off as the swat leader screamed at his men not to shoot the vats, atleast one of them had some sense of their surroundings. On the gangway he could see Ivy down below running towards another exit, he started off and that was when the world exploded. The gangplank melted beneath him, had his grappling gun still not been in his hands he would have fallen into the inferno beneath him. He fired blindly hoping anywhere was safer than where he was. 

Batman ended up just above the swat team, most of who were burning brightly and screaming their last breaths. He froze watching them unable to help he felt the anger surging through him at such a waste of life. The gangplank buckled with the heat and Batman grappled further down the room, moving as quickly as he could with one arm screaming with pain. Ivy was gone and right now he had no choice but to abandon the chase, if karma had its way she would find herself trapped somewhere watching the flames of her revenge approaching and then consuming her too. 

Out of the vast room he found his feet again, concrete floor made moving quicker, the whole building shook as more explosions erupted behind him, the fire was burning fast and hard the whole plant would be an inferno in no time at all and he had to get out. The gunshot that hit him in the side sent him tumbling into a wall and crumpling to the floor.

"Oh yeah, freeze!" Bullock laughed, even though the place was going to burn down and he could feel the heat from down the corridor as well as the sight of chemical fires consuming all in their path. He strolled over to the fallen foe, his eyes stung with smoke and unknown toxins and his brain had started to do a jive in his skull, If the last thing he did on this earth was kill the Batman, he would die a happy man. "New rules Batman, you are no longer to be apprehended but shot on site as a danger to the civilians of Gotham City and surrounding boroughs." Bullock had even seen this via an email from another source; Gordon was releasing it in the morning, across the whole force. Bullock could see he had not killed the Bat outright, he still breathed, he could tell by his chest plate rising and falling with heavy breaths. "Sucks to be you right about now," his voice slurred and his own breathing now rasping, unaware of the nose bleed that had started to gush from both nostrils he lifted his service revolver and pointed straight at Batman's head.

The kick took Bullock off his feet, the motion making him jerk the trigger, the gun firing a bullet into the wall relieving Batman of one bat ear in the process. The chemical fire was destroying all in its path at a ferocious pace. Batman staggered up and kicked the revolver away. "You idiot the place is burning down," he growled at the slob of an officer, the response was a pool of yellow bile that he burped up. 

There was an office across the way, a big window that looked out at the woodlands in the distance, at the moment though black smoke hid the view. Even though the man had shot him, he lifted him from the ground and dragged him into the office, if it were not for his gas mask the fumes would have laid him unconscious too, with his last store of strength, he screamed loudly, the breathing apparatus, amplifying it and warping it into a scream from hell itself as Batman launched himself through the window.

Gordon could not believe what he was hearing then seeing. At first Alpha team had decided that Batman was the main target not Poison Ivy and had begun firing on him, Gordon was holding the radio up to his mouth to get them back on track when the explosion made him drop the transmitter. Within one minute one side of the plant had gone up in flames and smoke, the rest of the plant was following quickly behind. Some officers had gone in after Bullock and had managed to locate the security guards who were being dragged out when the explosion happened now they half dragged, half ran the limp bodies as quickly away as possible, fellow officers running to help.

Gordon was speechless he had never seen anything quite like it, had his swat team caused this? He hoped to God they were not at fault. Around him men were running back and forth, cars reversing making way for the fire engines that were moments ago only there as a precaution, now called into action. "Commissioner we need to get your men back, the fumes from that thing are going to get very nasty."

Gordon railed on the fire chief, "I have men in there," He could see by the look on the chief's face that whoever was in there was as good as dead. 

A window exploded somewhere followed by shouts and calls. An officer scurried over to Gordon with a service pistol drawn, "Sir we have Batman,"

Gordon had seen the Batman in better condition, currently he was crouched down, cape smoking, an ear missing and an arm that had seen better days. It took Gordon a second to register the unmoving form of Harvey Bullock just in front of the Bat. "What on earth?" Gordon exclaimed.

"He came through that window sir, carrying Bullock." A faceless officer called from the crowd that had their guns pointed at the Bat, he could see red eyes and hear harsh coughing, someone being sick followed by another, one officer stumbled then fell to his knees. The smoke was toxic as hell, yet his men were trying to do their job.

"Lower your guns," Gordon growled, at first no one moved, "Lower them dammit!" he shouted and the guns slowly lowered. Gordon stepped forward, the heat of the blaze on his face making him squint. "The next time we see you it is shoot on sight, do I make myself clear?" Gordon could feel the eyes of the Bat boring into him; the single nod was a relief. Swiftly, but again not as swift as he once was the Batman stood and moved off, disappearing through a ripped hole in the chain link fence. "Get Bullock to an ambulance. Then all of you get the hell out of her before we all die." Gordon shouted over the roaring flames. He did not need to look back to know his orders were being followed.



The Batman: Downfall Ch. 02



Beneath Wayne Manor, Tuesday 04:41 am

The forty minutes Alfred had to wait stretched out before him. He tried to stay pre-occupied but everything that required doing brought his attention back to the fact that Bruce was in trouble. The steel table was clean and sterile as were the surgeon tools on a tray next to it. A bullet was lodged, a lucky shot that had managed to find a chink in the armour, the other great concerns were the arm and the real possibility that he had inhaled toxic fumes that even now could be eating away at his lungs and air passages. 

The roar of an engine brought Alfred out of his malaise and he hurried over to the fierce, hulking black form of the Batmobile. The driver door lifted up and a broken and beaten form stumbled out. Bruce opened his mouth to speak then faltered and reached out for Alfred. Alfred half walked half dragged the cloaked figure to the table helping him up the best he could. 

Alfred's biggest concern was the slow bleeding wound in Bruce's side. The fabric here was dense but manageable a lucky shot had missed the armour plating and tore into the weaker fabric side. With a sharp knife Alfred cut and worked the fabric open revealing the wound beneath. The skin was mottled and bruised and a sizeable hole oozed blood, "This may hurt," he uttered as he teased the wound open, Bruce gasped loudly his one good arm hammering the cold steel surface once.

Bruce lifted his heavy head from the gurney "How could she Alfred?" he managed to ask before blacking out.

Gotham City, 8:00 am

By the time the sun was rising above the towers of Gotham the fire at the Chemical plant was under control, its crumpled form was still being dowsed with water from surrounding fire trucks, teams in hazmat suits helping those they could while others began to search the rubble that was deemed safe, or atleast appeared safe. Black corpse bags came out on Gurneys from one partially destroyed entrance they would make the haunting image that would greet the public of Gotham everywhere when they woke up and turned their Televisions on.

Poison Ivy was asleep, a troubled sleep but one that was made easier being in the arms of Harley Quinn. Quinn on the other hand lay watching the naked woman pressed against her, her naked green body covered in terrible bruises and cuts, Quinn had seen the news and even she had been shocked by the devastation, but true to form also turned on by such wanton carnage. Across from the bed that they shared beneath crumpled sheets sat a low oak table on which now sat a single vial of clear liquid, the vial glinted with the creeping sun that cut through the chemical smog that hung heavy in the air.

Bruce Wayne had woken up on the operating table in agony, pain killers hardly making an impact on the dull ache of a dislocated arm and the deeper ache of a gunshot wound. Alfred had set up a Morphine drip which had been strongly declined. Bruce now sat tired and groggy in front of the bat computer, his weary eyes flicking from one screen to another gathering the stories of the day while listening to news reports playing on another channel. Bruce froze one image of the chemical plant, a few floors were still standing or just about, girders rose in the air like whale ribs, smoke rising from them still. "How could she Alfred?" Bruce asked again.

Alfred wished he had an answer for him but he closed his mouth without uttering a word. He walked over to the screens and placed a cup of coffee and a bowl of cereal close by. "May I suggest eating something Master Bruce?"

Bruce nodded and went to reach for the spoon, wincing has his right arm jerked in the sling that had it strapped firmly to his chest, he cursed under his breath then reached out with his left hand, "This is going to take some getting used to." He muttered before taking a mouthful of the crunchy muesli. His eyes never left the screen as he chewed thoughtfully. "This is beyond anything Ivy has tried in the past," he shook his head absently, "this is real terrorism Alfred, not some plot to wipe out a couple of naughty executives at the top of the food chain."

"Perhaps she is tired of playing that game," Alfred interjected.

"That is what concerns me, that and the fact she was waiting for me." Through it all Bruce kept coming back to that. Ivy had all the time in the world to plant the detonators and stroll straight out of that plant. She had spouted some rubbish about her being the one to kill him but he saw it in her eyes that it was not the whole truth. Why waste all that time just to talk to him, almost twenty minutes worth of waiting... Bruce cleared all the screens, and quickly hacked into the Gotham municipal buildings databanks.

"An idea sir?" Alfred asked stepping closer as the main screen filled with the blue prints of the Chemical plant. Another screen opened with the G.C.P.D server screen, which began to flash red as the computer cycled through its password and encryption software.

"Misdirection Alfred, what if I was not the main target?" Bruce bit his lower lip as he typed clumsily with his left hand, "What if she were after someone else," Bruce was expressing his thoughts out loud and Alfred remained respectfully quiet, for the time being atleast. The G.C.P.D screen blanked then opened on a general screen, successfully hacked. Bruce turned his attention to it and quickly accessed the duty roster. "What if someone on the Swat team was the target?" 

Alfred winced a little, he put it down to lack of sleep and overwhelming pain acting together to create such fuzzy logic, "Sir, without sounding rude, but Ivy has a far more direct and personal route to dealing out her revenge." Seducing was an art form with Poison Ivy one she used to deadly ends.

Bruce nodded slowly, Alfred did not have to see his face to know that Bruce was blushing a little with embarrassment. "Did you know they had a research lab in the plant?" Bruce asked suddenly, using the wheel on the mouse to zoom in on the top floor of the chemical plant, another screen popped open and Alfred was surprised to see the Axis Chemical company intranet page. The password was hacked within three seconds and a headache inducing menu page came up with more menu pages linking off of it at the touch of one header or another. "This could take some time."

Alfred looked over at the small television that sat near the work bench where Bruce repaired and readied his arsenal of gadgets and weapons. The bouffant haired woman gave way to the grizzly and tired face of Jim Gordon. A small image appeared in the top right corner, one that made Alfred's blood turn cold, "sir," he said in a cracked voice Bruce paid no attention he was too busy breaking down menus searching for clues. "Sir," the voice was louder and more stern making Bruce turn in his chair, "I believe you may want to see this," Bruce looked over at the tiny television and then quickly spun back opening the feed on the main screen.

Jim Gordon's face filled the screen, the top right corner showed a half decent sketch of Batman that was now half concealed behind a large red circle with a line through it, "...I repeat, Gotham Police department has issued a warrant for the capture and arrest with all due force of the criminal known as The Batman." The milling press exploded into a barrage of shouted questions, Gordon raised his hands trying to quieten the rabble.

"From vigilante to criminal in the blink of an eye," Alfred was astonished by such a turn of events and he worried even more about Bruce, it was bad enough having the criminals of Gotham shooting at him, he now had to worry about the police doing it too.

Bruce had begun to gnaw at the side of his index finger an old habit from his younger years and one that told Alfred that young master Bruce was indeed worried. "It was always a fine line Alfred, sooner or later Gordon had to decide which side I fell on." Bruce knew this was not all of Gordon's doing he was being pushed and very hard to make this statement. 

"You knew sir?" Alfred could hear it in the tone of his voice and it was a shock to him.

Bruce nodded, "Last night, he let me go but warned me that next time I would be shot on sight," he could count on a handful of officers to ignore this game changer, sadly they were outnumbered by the gung-ho, the sloppy, the dangerous and the paid off elements of the police force.

Gotham P.D. headquarters 9:03am

"Is this connected to last night's attack on the Chemical plant?" A female journalist screamed high above the mixed cacophony of other voices, surprising all around her.

Gordon shook his head, "It is not, last night's fire is being investigated as we speak and any and all perpetrators will be caught and put to trial." His headache was back with a vengeance, if he did not have a stroke by midday he would count himself lucky. "With regards that, the Department has offered its sincere condolences to the families of the six officers who died while inside the building, their fellow officers mourn their loss but will not give up on bringing their killers to justice."

"Was Batman there Commissioner, we have reports that he helped one of your officers and now you are asking for his head." This was from another reporter, a tall thin man with terrible plastic surgery around the eyes in a failed attempt to delay the aging process.

"I cannot comment or give details on an ongoing investigation Todd you know that. Detective Harvey Bullock remains in intensive care as we speak and we will give you more information on him when we get it." More shouted questions, more and more he heard the name Batman rise up out of the cacophony.

Finally one reporter asked a question he was willing to answer, "Do you have any leads on who might have started the fire?"

"At this time we are seeking a female suspect by the name Pamela Isley, also known as Poison Ivy in connection with the Chemical plant," the questions came again, he looked at his watch, he had given them five minutes and that was damn well four minutes and fifty five seconds too long, "Thank you," he said absently and walked away from the podium climbing the stone steps and through the glass frontage of the department ignoring the now ear splitting shouts of the irate news reporters behind him.

Officers dashed about him, many offering salutes or just a simple nod in his direction. His call for the capture of Batman would rip the department in half, but if he had failed to give the warrant Jim Gordon would be heading upstairs to clear out his office and get his belongings. At least now he still had some control, he could help if possible. The vibrating in his pocket brought him out of his thoughts and he fumbled for his phone. Gordon gave a genuine smile as he saw the name flash up on the screen, it took him a few more seconds to finally unlock the phone and speak to the person on the other line, "Don't hang up I'm here Barb'."

Barbara Gordon gave a good natured laugh down the line, "Dad you need to step into the modern age, I got you that phone so you could atleast dip a toe into the wonderful age of technology. Read the manual and you'll be able to answer it straight away."

Gordon continued up the stairs, avoiding the lifts as he always did in an attempt to get a little physical exercise in his daily routine, "You know I dislike this stuff, heck who knows what it's doing to my brain right now."

"Well from what I have just heard on the radio I think something has given you brain damage," 

Gordon could make out background noise now, the whine of a car engine then the deep rumble of a truck, "Where are you?" he asked pausing on the steps.

"I'm heading home dad, remember I said I would be coming up this weekend." Gordon looked at his watch and the date in the smaller inlaid dial, "You forgot, that's okay don't worry it's not like my graduation with full honours or anything...oh wait you missed that too." Gordon closed his eyes, that was two weeks ago and Barbara was heading home as he had begged her to visit so he could atleast try and make it up.

"I didn't forget, I just...ah hell okay I forgot! This place is starting to drown me Barbara but you have me all to yourself tonight I promise."

The line was silent for five seconds then ten, Gordon went to call her name before he finally heard a resigned big sigh followed by "Okay, okay you are lucky I am so forgiving, but you are taking me somewhere posh and expensive."

Gordon's shoulders slumped with relief, "You got it, I love you." The last part stumbled out of his mouth but Barbara had already hung up by then. Gordon put his phone away after examining it up close making sure that indeed the call had ended and that he was not required to press or say anything to the phone for it to go back to sleep.

Wayne Manor, 4:00pm

Bruce stirred from an unsettled sleep, noticing that the sun had risen and passed its high mark hours earlier. Alfred had forced him from the cave and into his bedroom half carrying him along the way. Bruce had fought sleep telling Alfred he had to search the data banks and find out what Ivy was really after, his words had become slurred and he went to protest at the drugs that Alfred had slipped him but his head had fallen back heavy on the pillow and there he had remained for the next six hours. 

Bruce sat up then lowered himself back down groaning loudly as dynamite exploded behind his eyes, he scrunched them tightly shut and tried to reach for the intercom with his right arm, before he realised it had been tightly bandaged to his chest. With effort he leaned over and smashed the intercom on with a heavy left hand. "Alfred?" he said his voice hoarse with exhaustion and dehydration.

A few minutes passed before Alfred walked into the room, he knocked politely on the door before entering the room. He carried a large carafe of ice water and a newspaper under one arm. A smile pressed thinly across his weathered face as he saw Bruce open one eye then the other licking his lips at the sight of the water. 

"What did you give me?" Bruce asked forcing himself up into a sitting position, using his left arm to hold his weight up. His tongue thick and sluggish in his mouth tasted of old medicine.

"A small sedative, though I doubt you really needed it," Alfred responded as he tipped the carafe pouring a small glass of water. "I wanted to be sure you had some sleep though." He lifted the glass to Bruce's lips letting him take small sips. When Bruce finally nodded, he lowered the glass and with a small amount of trepidation Alfred handed him the newspaper.

The Gotham Times made it plain and simple in big bold type 'WANTED: BATMAN DEAD OR ALIVE' it was a bitter pill to have to keep swallowing. The warning last night had not prepared him for the press conference this morning and now seeing it in print...somehow it drove the message home. Bruce threw the newspaper to one side in disgust, he had grown to respect Jim Gordon now that respect was dwindling he had caved in and marked Batman and in turn Bruce Wayne to death. "Any luck finding what Ivy was really up to?" Bruce asked avoiding the topic of the warrant.

Alfred raised his eyebrows but did not start the line of questioning that had pre-occupied him for most of the day, he swallowed hard then replied, "I am afraid not sir, Axis seem to run things on a lot of levels. The Chemical plant certainly had two faces. The main front we all know and love dearly and then there is or was the Research and development department, shady would be an understatement." 

Bruce turned on the bed sitting on the edge of it, feeling the stitches in his side pulling taunt, his recently fixed dislocated shoulder throbbing madly. "We need someone on the inside of Axis or atleast someway of me gaining access to the main frame directly." Bruce pushed himself off the bed standing on his feet for a moment before Alfred caught him and lowered him back down to sitting on the bed. "Find out what upcoming research they need funding for, Batman may be out of action for a while but Bruce Wayne can still function."

"While we are on the subject of Bruce Wayne functioning, you have a dinner date tonight as well as a board meeting with Wayne enterprises tomorrow morning. No doubt you have a story already for your injuries." Alfred nodded to the visible trussed up arm.

"Cancel the date and the meetings can be pushed further back, we have more pressing engagements." Bruce stood up and Alfred pushed him a little too easily back down.

"Batman has to take time off sir, now would be a good time. If you want access into Axis Bruce Wayne needs to be seen about town." 

Bruce nodded slowly in agreement, "I cannot even remember who the dinner is with and where?" Bruce said coyly.

"Well lucky for you sir, I do!"

Fox Gardens, Restaurant 8:00pm

For Jim Gordon it did not get any posher than Fox Gardens. The waiting list for the average man on the street was a couple of months but for the police commissioner it only took one phone call and a space had been made for him and his guest no doubt had he been one of the crime family bosses the whole restaurant would have been cleared out for him. Barbara had reached the house late that afternoon and to Jim's relief had given him a huge hug as she got out of her car. He helped her with her bags "I thought this was a flying visit?" he had asked as he opened the boot on the small sedan. She had replied with a crafty smile and told him all would be explained at dinner. She was staying for longer perhaps a month, perhaps longer and this filled Jim with happiness apart from a small ball of ice that had formed in his stomach.

Barbara now sat opposite him, humming a little tune as she looked through the menu. She had cleaned up from her long car journey. Gone were the tattered jeans and dirty t-shirt, now she wore a plain black dress, the neck line not too plunging and the hem within Jim Gordon's acceptable limits. Her red hair that she had inherited from her Mother cascaded down over her shoulders. Jim closed his menu, already knowing that he would be having the steak before he even started to look at the menu. "Come on, you going to tell me why you had so many bags?" 

Barbara looked up from her menu then gave a smile that reminded Jim of his dead wife. She lowered the menu biting her lower lip in apprehension. "I've taken a job here in the city." Jim's bushy eyebrows rose up "Its head of the public library, it's not much but a start that will open doors for me." She took a sip of water, expecting her dad to fill the silence between them, hoping that he would. Instead he remained silent forcing her to speak again, even with his own flesh and blood Jim Gordon could be the unshakable detective. "I can get onto a lot of the City's panels; make changes from inside, who knows I could end up on the governing council in a few years and then...who knows?"

"I don't understand you want to be a bureaucrat? My god Barbara your young why would you want to do that?" Jim asked flabbergasted.

Barbara sighed, "Dad it's not like that. This is a stepping stone to bigger things, better things I can make a difference here." Her speech was impassioned but she wasn't telling her dad the whole story, though it was there simmering on the surface if he wanted to dig she would unravel. Barbara knew how she could make a difference in Gotham and the city could do with it right about now. A police car sped past followed by another their lights flashing and sirens roaring, Barbara took the opportunity to change the subject. "Busy night out there, isn't that the forth lot of cars to have sped by?"

Jim nodded he had expected this to happen tonight and for many nights to come. He had asked his station chiefs to start changing their rota's for the foreseeable future. Hot headed beat cops would be partnered with more seasoned officers in an attempt to minimise the risk. Jim was not deaf to the talk going around G.C.P.D talk of illicit bets and odds on who would kill the Batman, there was no talk of taking him alive. Someone was going to wind up dead by daybreak though he knew it would not be Batman. "Stop trying to change the subject." He said gruffly then gave a soft laugh, "It's your life Barb' and you can crash at the house until you find somewhere in the city to live."




The Batman: Downfall Ch. 02



"Ah, Mr Wayne right this way," the concierge called out loudly a smile plastered below his thin black moustache. The concierge walked with his shoulders pushed back, his smile growing smugger as he lead the expensive suited man to a table in a private corner. Heads turned this way and that, mostly women though Jim noted one or two male movers and shakers taking note at the added attention the new guest was getting. With a theatrical flourish the concierge pulled out a chair and seated Bruce Wayne.

"Now that's someone you should be investigating dad." Barbara said her eyes narrowing as she looked over at the billionaire playboy. "No one is that good looking and that rich without being dirty, wouldn't surprise me if he has ties with the Maroni's."

Jim laughed loudly he held a balled fist to his mouth and coughed trying to mask the sudden burst of merriment. "Bruce Wayne is not tied to any mob boss, not Maroni, not Falcone, not Dimitrov." Barbara arched one eyebrow, "Of course I looked in to him." They both laughed together then, like father like daughter it seemed.

First course came and went and their main course went down just as easily. Once the plates were cleared off the table Barbara asked, "I need to come over to your headquarters tomorrow, a small matter of the public records system and the Police system not running in synch maybe we can meet up for lunch." 

"You don't waste any time in your new job do you! I'll let the desk Sergeant know you will be about, he'll get you through with no hassle. But no can do with Lunch, I have a meeting with the mayor and his cronies." Jim replied, Barbara had his drive and she was jumping into her new job head first. He noticed a lopsided smile on Barbara's face that made him turn and look over at Bruce Wayne who was still sitting on his own, now tapping on the table with the one hand that was not trussed up on his chest. "Stood up? First time for everything I guess."

By the time dessert came, Bruce had flung in the towel or in this case an expensive white napkin he stood up and meekly made his way down the restaurant to the front door. Barbara made eye contact for less than a second but it was enough to stop the man in his tracks a smile that Barbara thought would not look out of place on a shark, crossed the chiselled chin and well-bred cheeks. Bruce slowed and Barbara groaned inwardly. "Commissioner," Bruce said pulling up at the table, he held out his left hand which Jim grabbed after fiddling with his dessert spoon. "This is not your usual dining hole?"

"Very true Bruce, but I have a special guest staying with me so I thought it best to show her somewhere a little classier than Luigi's Pizza." Jim replied.

Bruce turned to the redhead he had caught a glimpse of the moment he had entered the restaurant. The dawning realisation and the following embarrassment of being stood up was softened as he sat at the table on his own he found himself glancing her way, even from that distance he got a sense of her beauty and an underlying resentment in the way he caught her glances every now and then. He knew who she was but he played along anyway, "Bruce Wayne and you are..." He held out his left hand.

Barbara gripped the offered hand firmly she was no giddy school girl or vapid news reporter, "Barbara, Barbara Gordon." She was surprised to find a very firm hand shake there was power behind the grip enough to snap her fingers if he applied enough pressure perhaps. "What happened to your arm?" she asked.

Bruce looked down at his right arm as if he had forgotten about the injury, "This? I got flung from my horse playing polo." The answer was stock Bruce Wayne and he loathed saying it.

"I didn't realise the Koreans were big on Polo?" The odd question brought a quizzical look to Bruce's face, his head cocking to one side but Barbara could also see the unease in his eyes "How are Wayne enterprises doing after the North Korea fiasco?" she wanted to laugh as she saw her question hit home.

Jim's mouth dropped open and he quickly spoke, "Barb' just got her doctorate and a new job right here in the City as head of the public library, this meal is sort of a combined celebration." He could feel the tension between his daughter and Bruce.

Bruce gave an easy smile, trying not to draw attention to the fact that Barbara Gordon still held his hand. "That's great news on both accounts. The public library needs young blood in there if it's to survive the digital age."

Barbara nodded and continued on her original line of questioning, "I only ask because I couldn't find much in the papers, North Korea acquiring a shipment of Wayne Tech weapons I thought would have made the front pages the world over last month." She took some delight in the way Bruce's mouth lost its smile. The story had been buried and buried deep, the look on Bruce's face told her he knew it had been too.

"An error our far eastern field office is quickly rectifying I assure you. It seems our background checks were not as thorough as they should have been and the shipment went through a grey company before anything could have been done." The words rolled off Bruce's tongue with ease, he had said the same thing to the ministers in South Korea as well as China.

If he were lying he was very good at it, Barbara could detect no tell in his face, heck even his pulse had remained steady. "Well that's good to hear," she finally relinquished her grip, "There are plenty of bad men in this city Mr Wayne, I would hate to think you were one of them too." 

"Christ Barbara!" Jim exclaimed loudly, "Bruce I'm sorry..."

Bruce held up his hand, that easy smile returning but his eyes still looked troubled "That's okay I have been called much worse, but I assure you Miss Gordon I am one of the good guys." He wished them both a good evening and headed off at what he hoped was a steady pace. Barbara Gordon was beauty with a beast of a mind, she we chew through the ranks of Gotham's public sector easily and make enemies along the way.

"What the hell was that Barb'?" Jim demanded in a hushed tone, his dessert now long forgotten.

"There is something not right about him and his company. Who accidently sells arms to North Korea? What's next for Wayne Enterprises, Nuclear warheads to Cuba?"

"Barbara if you want to get on in this City and rise to the top you need people like Bruce Wayne in your corner, trust him, hell trust me when I say he's one of the good guys. This town has not got many of them left."

"It could do with one more," Barbara muttered under her breath as she lifted her ice cream laden silver spoon.

Gotham Police headquarters, Wednesday 11:05am

She had been left in the bowels of Gotham Police Headquarters for over an hour now and not one person had come to check on her. The moment the desk sergeant had gotten her name he had hastily written her visitor pass which she clipped it to her business suit expecting at every turn to be asked to show some ID on her whistle stop tour through the bull pen and through the lower offices. But who she was had buzzed around the headquarters quickly, mostly she suspected because of her dad giving them fair warning that she would be there. It just made her job here even easier. Their five minute walk consisted of the Sergeant telling her what an amazing man her father was, what an amazing job he was doing etc. etc. 

He had shown her direct to the lower floors of the police department and into the server room and that was the last living soul she had seen for over an hour. Finding the right algorithm to get both this system and the Libraries system talking the same language had taken Barbara about five minutes, the rest of the time she had spent lazily clearing caches, putting files into alphabetical order and all other mundane jobs that made it look like she was working hard if someone just happened to come down. 

Barbara had gotten up out of her chair five times, left the computer room two of those times the second time to get a paper cup of water from a dust covered water dispenser at the end of the corridor, the real reason she was here sat at the end of the long narrow corridor, she sipped the water disliking the old taste of it and scanned the ceiling for any sign of cameras getting a moment of relief when she spotted none.

Getting the schematics for the station had been worryingly easy, that was her first indication of how badly run the public library of Gotham was. The Police Department as it now stood was a new building built upon the foundations of an older structure, a structure that Barbara Gordon was now walking through. When she was Ten she had listened to her dad tell her that the Gotham Police department were tight asses who never threw anything away, they kept it stored just in case.

She now stood in front of a set of iron doors behind which sat the unused, long forgotten and outdated equipment that the department refused to throw away. A rusted hasp hung loosely from one door, the padlock long since missing. Barbara took another look over her shoulder, the stairs leading from the top floor now directly behind her even if she ran she would not make the computer server room without alerting someone. She took a deep breath and pushed one door open.

Barbara reached into her suit pocket and pulled out a small flashlight, she did not want to chance the main lights. Her nose tingled with the years of accumulated dust and she ran her tongue across the roof of her mouth delaying the inevitable sneezing fit that would come. The thin, tight beam of the flash light skipped over equipment that was years old, some piled neatly others tossed haphazardly the further into the room she went. Barbara lowered the flashlight to the floor, footprints disquietingly recent, had kicked up the dust and debris on the floor, somewhere out there a cop or two had added outdated and dangerous equipment to their itinerary in their attempt to catch a man sized Bat.

Barbara sighed, she had plenty of second thoughts about what she was going to attempt but that was when she was going to be the one using lousy equipment now the idea of someone lobbing a twenty year old smoke bomb or worse yet a grenade at her tied her stomach in knots. She found the Kevlar jackets after a deeper search near the door way, she grabbed one and felt the weight of it instantly, without thinking she tossed it across the floor. The next jacket she reached in and found the loose sheets of Kevlar and pulled them out one by one, again tossing them over to where the other jacket now lay.

The next ten minutes went by in agonising slow time. Barbara's heart was pounding in her throat her hands were shaking and she had knocked a box full of smoke grenades to the ground with her carelessness. More time was wasted clearing them up, by the time she had finished she had added a helmet, twenty or so smoke bombs and a swat uniform she thought might be re-used if she could remember how to sow, along with carabineers, rope (that would probably snap on her first use) and other bits of paraphernalia that she had started to take with no idea on how to use it or what it could be used for a small taste of kleptomania spurring her on.

Barbara's next stop was the disused trash shoot for this floor her small sedan was parked right below the chutes exit on the lower level of the garage. She had scrunched up a gym bag into her handbag which she now loaded and dragged down the opposite corridor to the chute, she lifted it with effort onto the lip of the shoot and it took an almighty push to get it to close. She listened as the bag whacked and banged its way down the chute. Barbara walked back as steady as she could to the server room and straightened herself out.

Barbara had walked through the station as if she had not a care in the world. She thanked the desk sergeant when he had waved at her she even spent another few minutes listening to him talk about what an amazing man her father was yet again. Then she was through and out into the car park, the elevator ride was slow, cops and lawyers were all about her, she smiled back at the ones who smiled at her, shot a dirty look to one creepy looking lawyer who was just about to start chatting to her but in general she kept to herself.

By the time she reached her car the cool calm exterior had given way, her legs shook and she dry heaved by the rear wheel of her car. Her head throbbed as the adrenaline rush finally ebbed and cold hard reality sank in, she was now a criminal even if her reasons were good the law would come down hard on her. The bag was where it should have been, the black hole above her car was the exit of the chute, the bag had slid down and right out landing neatly behind her sedan. She heaved it into the boot before sitting behind the wheel of her car taking deep breaths with her eyes closed, when she left the garage the cool calm exterior was back, and would remain in place until she finished work later that evening.

Boone Arboretum,

Gotham's arboretum was a failure from the moment its doors opened to the general public. It was supposed to be a gift to all of Gotham from a botanist who had been born and raised in Gotham only to die in the middle of a rain forest. His inept son though amazing with architecture declined the services of any Botanist in the choosing of what plants would work. By the time the grand opening half of the Arboretum had a serious fungal problem the other half was dying or dead.

It took six months before the doors were shut for the final time. Kincaid Boone the Architect went bankrupt and fled Gotham owing serious money to the Falcone crime family. Over ten years the arboretum changed hands but never re-opened, it sat a glass tri-domed wonder as the rest of Gotham grew around it until it was nothing more than the wreck that Poison Ivy now inhabited.

The soil was still fertile and it took Ivy only a matter of days to start bringing the exotic dead back to life. Now the arboretum was filled with thick, green, jungle life. Creepers and vines covered most of the walls, ceilings and floor. Wolfsbane, Atrope Bella Donna, Nerum Oliander and other deadly flowers sprouted in profusion throughout the jungle canopy. The large office space near the rear of the Arboretum had given way to the vicious growth of the jungle, the door now hung from the ceiling floorboards ripped up and discarded to make way for root systems. But one space still remained clear a long conference table that now held a mixture of chemical, pharmaceutical and medical equipment that Poison Ivy now leaned over her thoughts lost in the minute chemical reactions that were happening beyond her vision.

"No Bats last night," Harley said pouting. She sat on a table legs swinging back and forth aimlessly, her skirt was hiked up way past her thighs in an attempt to get Ivy's attention to the fact that she wore no panties. Instead she had gotten the attention of a couple of Joker's goons who Harley had brought along for back up. She let them stare it was not like they were ever going to get close enough to taste her. "What happens if he's dead Ivy?"

Poison Ivy paid no attention, her cool eyes flicked from apparatus to apparatus her tongue poked out and pressed against her upper lip something that the long dead Pamela Isley used to do when a troublesome formula presented itself. When Harley asked the question again a little louder this time Ivy turned from the lab machinery that worked tirelessly before her, ever spinning, heating, crystallising, separating, evaporating, and condensing. "Then we rejoice, have a party and watch Gotham burn." She smiled at the show Harley was putting on, but it was a weak, forced smile a requirement to keep Quinn from jumping off the deep end, "But have no fear the Batman lives on, he is holed up somewhere licking his wounds trying to work out just what I am up to." 

A large white plastic machine beeped softly and Ivy turned back her brow knitting together, she thumped the counter with one fist. "This is not right," she muttered to herself, the vial was almost all empty she had wasted too much of it already in the course of the last twenty four hours.

Ivy tensed as Harley laid her hands onto her shoulders the girl was getting in her way, inane questions were always a breath away it seemed with Harley today, that was always a problem with the psychotic they just never knew when to shut up. "It's okay Ivy you'll figure it out....oh that's a pretty red flashing light." 

Ivy shrugged Harley's hands loose, "It's not pretty it's disappointing, the enzymes separate at a molecular level the way they should, but condensing them back into a liquid is impossible, I am missing something, temperature perhaps..." she lost herself in her thoughts, thoughts that Poison Ivy did not realise belonged to Pamela Isley, deep down the weak woman lived on.

"Well I don't know about the enzymes temperature but I am feeling pretty hot." Harley replied in an up tempo sing song and pushed her body against Ivy dry humping her lover's ample backside as she did. 

Ivy's hand was flying through the air before she could stop it she had whirled around and delivered the stinging slap to Harley Quinn's face before her brain could engage. "Don't you understand? If this doesn't work the plan is a failure, there is no plan B." Harley stared wide eyed one hand clutching the side of her white face. Her two goons raced forward grabbing pistols that they had sitting snuggly in the belts of their jeans.

From the ground two creepers whipped out finding the goons ankles and wrapping around lifted them high, another two creepers peeled away from the wall and ceiling and wrapped a death grip around the throats of the dangling goons and tightened. Ivy swallowed her anger, calming herself down. She moved forward towards Quinn and as she did commanded with a simple thought for the creepers to lower the two goons. She hugged Harley feeling the tense body beneath and the rage that was making it shiver. "I need you, I cannot do this without you," the rage lessened. "When this is over we can be together, for ever if you want. But right now I need you to help me solve this."

The goons dropped to the ground with an exhalation of what little air was left in their lungs, "You're the brains of this operation not me." Harley said sulkily, her psychology degree for the time being forgotten. "What do you need me to do?" Ivy turned her head and whispered a name into Harley's ear.

Doctor Frederick Zimm had spent his life dealing with the wonders and mysteries of science, he was classed as one of the top ten scientists when he was a young man, his pedestal that was to sit in the annuals of history had crumbled and finally fallen away so that now thirty years later at the age of sixty he found himself teaching college kids the fine art of chemistry. His last class of the day filed out of the room in a display of noise and body parts. Frederick closed his tattered course book and slipped it into his attaché case along with the completed assignment paperwork for his class, just a quick glance had told him that Google had done most of the work, three students work were identical in every fault from a terrible copy and paste effort. 

He turned to wipe his white board clean and noticed the young lady stood in the doorway. Her dark hair was tied back in a tight severe bun her eyes covered by thick black rim glasses and her lips a deep shade of red. She wore a pinstripe business suit, the skirt was modest length to her knee's, though the top was a little more daring than Fredrick thought appropriate, the jacket was done up with one button and the white blouse beneath revealed an ample amount of cleavage. "Professor Zimm?" The lady asked with an accent that was jarring in its Brooklyn tones.

"Yes that's me how may I help you?" The doctor asked and the lady walked into his classroom the door slowly closing behind her. She stood in front of his desk and placed a black briefcase flat on the surface. His eyes flicked to the case then to the blue eyes beneath the glasses he caught a glance of the cleavage up close and scolded himself for being so juvenile.




The Batman: Downfall Ch. 02



The lady turned the briefcase and opened it up, pulling a sheet of paper out and held it out for Frederick to take. Frederick pushed his glasses up his hawk nose and looked at a complex diagram filled with equations and chemical symbols that crisscrossed the sheet. "This is...this is...I cannot...this compound, these symbols..." he trailed off dumbfounded at what he was seeing.

"My client would like to offer you a healthy reward for helping to fix a small issue," The lady turned the briefcase, the inside was filled with bundles of money, "You would get joint publication rights as well."

Frederick was shaking his head, what he was looking at was unique, a natural compound that could theoretically control the human brain, "this is impossible, how did your client come to find such a compound in nature?"

The lady leaned over the case, her arms pushing either side of her cleavage making a larger display for the Doctor, but he hardly noticed his eyes scanned the sheet of paper oblivious to all around him. "If you are willing my client can meet you now?" The doctor looked up, his eyes going wide at the sight of the breasts that were almost falling out of the blouse and which were clearly braless. "I can take you to her, discuss the matter and then take you home if you agree or disagree." The smile she gave was predatory but Frederick did not care at that moment, the pedestal was going to have to be re-built.

The reality that something was not right only struck Doctor Frederick Zimm when the limousine they were in pulled up outside the dilapidated front of the Arboretum. He delayed climbing from the car when one of the men sitting up front got out and opened the door for him, only moving when the woman in the business suit had nudged him rather sharply to move. Stepping out of the car into the lowering afternoon light Frederick noticed the smart drivers cap the man was wearing and then the bullet hole that had left a hole in the back of it. 

The doors to the Arboretum swung open as they approached, Frederick slowed his pace and felt a gun muzzle push painfully into his lower back. Frederick watched with fascination as the vines on the doors tensed then pulled them shut behind them, eh gave a startled cry as he felt a vine slither around his hand and another shot up the sleeve of his jacket pulling both the case and his jacket from him as they continued walking through the overgrown vegetation.

"That's better!" The business suited woman said and Frederick turned to see five or six thick creepers pulling the suit off of her until she was naked. Pale skinned and heavy breasted the woman spun in a tight circle, "feels good," she sung out as she turned then stopped abruptly facing Frederick. 

He noticed the look in her eyes then, "You're mad," he stuttered, "this is a madhouse!" The woman laughed and gave him a wet kiss on his cheek.

"What's up doc?" she said and grabbed his groan. Her mouth turned down, "Ah Shucks, no carrot for me, let's hope Ivy's more successful." She stepped back then danced off, quickly hidden from view by the hanging foliage. Frederick felt another stab of a gun muzzle in his back and he continued further into the Arboretum.

The memory of Frederick Zimm belonged to Pamela Isley it was a memory of her teen years which were spent behind thick glasses and braces. In the memory Frederick Zimm was a broad shouldered tall man, with thick black hair and a black beard to match. The man that now stood before the transformed Pamela was stooped and withered even his black hair had given up on life, turning a dull shade of grey. The man shook with nerves, his eyes flicking in every direction flinching when a creeper moved, he almost screamed out as Ivy walked, naked into view from behind a tall, green trunk.

The effect of seeing Ivy naked stopped the man's shakes momentarily, Ivy could see his eyes taking in her full figure his mouth working away, perhaps to say something, perhaps imagining what her thick nipples would feel like clenched between his shrivelled lips. Ivy stopped a few feet from the old man she smiled warmly her arms open and palms visible in an attempt to show the man she meant no harm. "Doctor Zimm, it has been a long time since we last met," She saw the man's brow knit together his eyes trying to focus and pick out the face from a life time of faces, she did not expect him to remember and continued on, "Thank you for coming, I take it you are impressed by the compound?"

The man stared at her then at the two men who stood silently just behind him, he turned back and nodded, then coughed loudly before saying, "Yes, very much so...I don't understand why I am here though." Ivy moved forward a step and slightly to the side letting the good doctor catch a glimpse of the machinery behind her. "What are you attempting to do?" Any trace of fear had left the man's voice, it was steady though weak.

"A slight issue with condensing it back down into a liquid I hoped you would be able to help?"

Frederick's eyes slid from the machine and back to the redheaded lady. He knew who she was the moment she had stepped into view. Her nudity had thrown him, her machinery even more so the scientist of old had woken up and began plotting calculations and times...then the woman had mentioned liquid and it had frozen Fredericks heart, "Liquid? You wish to inject this?"

Ivy gave out a loud laugh and placed one warm hand on Fredericks shoulder, "Inject it? That would be madness. No I want to make it airborne, better dispersion rates as an aerosol I'm sure you agree?"

Frederick eyes widen in horror, this was not some simple compound to make one person compliant but a mass of people in one go. "I do not want any part in this," In his horror he turned to walk away, he felt hands grab his arms, only when he looked down the hands that held him were in fact creepers. The two men smirked at the doctor then walked off leaving him alone with Poison Ivy.

The man was lifted from his feet by a few inches then rotated so that he faced Ivy again. The man was breathing heavily and tried to work his arms loose but to no avail. "I must assure you that the benefits of working for me outweigh the negatives." Ivy said as she approached the man again, now eye level with herself, her hands rested on his heaving chest.

"You are a vile woman, a terrorist and a murderer," Frederick shouted out.

Ivy's hands moved from Frederick's chest to his stomach pausing for a moment, "I can be very persuasive," her hands continued down to his belt and worked at the buckle. Frederick fought harder crying out in desperation as his trousers then underwear were pulled down. Ivy cupped his testicles, "This won't hurt doctor," Ivy's other hand closed around the semi-erect penis and slowly began to work it back and forth. 

The man's struggles lessened as his cock grew erect with the attention. He was still terrified but he was not sure what of now, "Whatever you are planning..." Ivy silenced him with one finger on his lips. Frederick gave out a loud gasp as Ivy's mouth enveloped his hard cock down to its grey haired root.

Ivy worked him slowly, running her tongue along the length of his cock as she lifted her head, holding his cock head delicately between her teeth and working the head and hole with her tongue before slipping the whole length with ease back into her mouth. The lipstick she wore was one of her many toxins, there were easier ways of administering it but this tended to prove quite successful. The toxin lowered the will power making the victim more accepting, the blow job made them more willing. 

It did not take long for the doctor to start panting heavily, his hips bucking as Ivy sped up. She stopped suddenly and looked up at the good doctor, "Do I have your attention now?" her smile spread across her face, "This is only the start for you and me,"

The doctor groaned his hips pushing back and forth making his saliva covered cock brush against Ivy's cheek. "I will...." The doctor took a deep breath, "I will..." A single tear rolled down his face and Ivy knew she had lost, "I will NEVER work for a whore like you," the doctor spat out.

Ivy had expected this to be easier, that had been her mistake one she would not make again. A creeper lazily made its way along the ground, its tip curled around a thin cylinder. It uncurled as it reach Ivy and dropped the cylinder into her waiting hand. Ivy applied a shocking red lipstick to her full lips, "If that's how you feel doctor, let me give you a parting gift." And with that she engulfed his still hard cock again. She squeezed his testicles painfully and tugged her mouth working back and forth with speed on his shaft, the lipstick smearing as it went. Ivy felt him tense, heard that unmistakeable gasp, and her mouth released his cock at the last second. 

Even Ivy gasped as Fredericks cock twitched sending a large load of cum across her chest and breasts, it was thick and warm but after the first explosion the rest dribbled feebly from him a string of it connecting one hard nipple to his cock head. Already Ivy could see her last toxin darkening the skin on his withering cock. A sudden cry escaped Frederick's mouth, his arms reached forward to grab at his groin but the creepers held him firmly in place.

"I take it he declined your offer?" Harley said stepping into the room, her eyes more interested in her lover than the soon to be dead man. Harley's hand went eagerly to the thick mess that had spattered across Ivy and she smeared the already cooling cum into her pale green skin then moving in bigger arks to take in her heavy breasts and hard nipples.

Frederick's cock had now swollen to twice its girth and had turned an ugly bruised colour that now continued to spread across his hips and up his stomach. He cried out in pain, his body trying to double over but unable to as the creepers held him up straight. Ivy stared into the man's eyes as death began to take hold; she paid no attention to Ivy as her tongue worked across her cum smeared breasts, taking each nipple in turn into her mouth. 

By the time Frederick gave his last choked breath the lower part of his body had become swollen and black. Ivy gently placed her hand on Ivy's chin lifting her head upwards and away from her breasts, she wanted nothing more than to let Harley fuck her but that would have to wait. "I have another name for you this one should be more amenable." The creepers carried off the corpse of Frederick Zimm, Harley watched as the creepers bent the body snapping the spine with ease, she knew what was coming but still her mouth dropped open as a large mouth appeared in the canopy of leaves, the body was fed in and the mouth shut slowly.



The Batman: Downfall Ch. 03



Rooftops of Gotham, Saturday 10pm

She had expected that there would be a thrill in what she was doing but not this much! Barbra Gordon swung through the air, landing in a tight role on a flat roof and unfurling with a little finesse that the suit allowed her. She could hear the police sirens behind her a few blocks away no doubt pulling up to the sight of two muggers unconscious and tied up. Barbara took a deep intake of breath holding it for three seconds then letting it out in a shuddering release as she tried to calm herself down. She moved to the edge of the roof and looked down at a busy Saturday night in Gotham she knew she should be down there living it up like the other young go getters as far as her dad knew that was exactly what she was doing right now.

Batman had not been seen for two weeks, well atleast the real Batman. The police were currently doing their best to deal with the shocking death of three wannabe Batman's, all gunned down by over eager cops. She had heard her dad on the phone telling whoever was on the other end how the cops were trying to bag a big reward by the Falcone family instead they all ended up losing their jobs and facing criminal charges. The crime families were running the town now that The Bat had disappeared.

Barbara stood up straight and adjusted the straps on her outfit. The Kevlar had bruised her all over the first night she was out, her breasts had been painful mounds to touch (she had a fleeting thought and blushed beneath her mask) she could barely walk when she had awoken the next day, but as the nights went on she had found her inner strength and now she hardly noticed the weight that surrounded her. By day Barbara Gordon ran the public library with shocking rigidity that had surprised all her employees with her young face but brutal mind. By night she became Batgirl, a name she loathed the moment she had heard it.

Channel five news had coined the term the second night they had caught a fleeting glimpse of her on camera, every other news agency pounced on it and the name quickly stuck. Barbara had not given the thought of name much breathing space, though she had atleast expected something along the line of Bat-woman, Night claw or something of equal magnificence. But she was not surprised that it had taken a man to take her down a few notches to that of simply being a 'girl'. It could have been worse she knew, one reporter had dared to call her 'The Bat-chick'.

Now Batgirl longed for a hot shower and some downtime, there was no work tomorrow but she needed to catch up on her sleep if she were to be back out on the evening. Her first night out had ended with an unexpected side effect, she had gotten home, thankfully her dad was working the evening so sneaking into the Police commissioners house dressed as batgirl was far easier. She was still buzzing from the high that came with the endangerment of her life on the streets of Gotham, in her room she had started to remove her outfit, swat suit cut up and patched together to form a tunic and miniskirt combination (she hated it but it gave her ample movement) the suit clunking on the ground around her feet. That was when she had caught herself in the full length mirror, Barbara had actually gasped at the masked spectre that had greeted her. A mask made of an old helmet and bits of cloth with pointed ears, and ending on the tip of her nose covered most of her face, though her red hair cascaded out from beneath it. Black leggings covered her from toe to waist and her top half was bare. Her first test run of the suit had brought her the result that a bra was more constricting than she could deal with and had consigned that part to the bin. 

Bruises, faint for now were blooming on her torso and arms. The carjacker had gone for her without hesitating, his first few blows had sent her stumbling backwards before she had found her feet and her courage and knocked him out flat with a punch followed by a round house kick. It was this thought again that made Barbara feel odd. She reached up and cupped her pert breasts her breath cutting short as she felt the soreness in them, but that only added to the giddy feeling that was emanating from her. She had fled the scene even as the old man thanked her again and again for stopping the carjacker, she thought she was being chased by someone her breathing was that heavy in her ears. Now that breathing was coming from her again and it was unmistakable now as it was then, Barbara Gordon was turned on and desperate.

She had stood in front of the mirror, leggings about her knee's one hand plunged between her legs another playing with her hard nipples and sore breasts. It had not taken long, her hand had found her pussy wet and her labia swollen her finger slipping in easily within a minute of frantic working she orgasmed loudly, falling to her knees as her finger refused to slow its pace. The second time, she had gone slow and lasted five minutes before falling into an exhausted sleep.

Barbara shook the thought from her head, she was embarrassed by that first time but had she not continued every night since, even with her dad only a couple of rooms away she had bitten her pillow and let her fingers play with her charged body. She had expected that there would be a thrill in what she was doing but not this much!

Gotham General Hospital, 10:03pm

Jim had told the duty nurse who he was about two minutes after she had argued he could not go see the patient, "Visiting hours are over, you will have to come back tomorrow, sir." She had said in a stern and loud voice.

Jim Gordon had responded with a stern and louder voice "that's police commissioner to you, ma'am." Her face had paled even the horrendous boil on her chin had gone a different colour as the realisation of who was stood before her took hold. She had mumbled her apology and directed Gordon down the corridor towards a private room near the end.

A small handful of Nurses and tired doctors milled about at this hour of night, up here on this ward the chances of a sudden cardiac arrest or an internal bleed going super nova were rare, so no one needed to be on high alert, just there, just in case. As he made his way down the corridor he spotted another man walking in the opposite direction, Italian suit on a rake thin figure topped by a drawn face and a mess of black hair. The man smiled as they approached, he held out one hand to the Commissioner, "Commissioner Gordon it has been awhile."

Gordon saw the boy in the man in front of him, the thick glasses and greasy skin may have gone but that unsettling gleam in the eye was still there. Gordon refrained shaking the hand of Alberto Falcone it was something he did with all the crime families. "I thought you were off at University?" he responded gruffly.

Alberto looked down at his offered hand then slowly dropped it, his smile going with it, "I finished, full honours, no surprise there. I was up in Gotham visiting my Dad and an old friend here in the hospital." A half smile appeared for a fleeting second as he said the last bit his head nudging to the room at the end of the corridor.

'Ballsy bastard' Jim thought, he gritted his teeth then replied, "Is that so?" 

Alberto winked and pushed past Gordon, "See you around Commissioner." He said over his shoulder. It had not taken the crime families long to start getting their guys back out on the streets in force, yet another headache for Jim Gordon, he was just thankfully the Joker had not shown his hand yet. Now seeing Alberto, Jim could only guess at when the family wars would spill out onto the streets. 

Harvey Bullock was sat up in his bed when Gordon entered the room the heavy set man looked annoyed and mashed the buttons on a television remote in one hand. Bullock's skin was still an unhealthy colour with blisters spreading out across his forehead and cheeks, "Evening Harvey." Gordon said pulling up a chair next to the bed.

"I was wondering when you would be visiting me," Bullock dropped the remote control, happy for the time being for a soft drink commercial to run its course. "Had your hands full it seems."

"Just a little bit," Gordon chuckled, "They tell you I kept calling them every day?" From the moment Harvey Bullock had arrived at the hospital Gordon had called for progress reports, he may not like the man much but he was still an officer of the law, one that was sometimes damn good at his job. Harvey nodded in response, "I would have come sooner but you've seen the news." Harvey responded with a 'pfft' sound from his cracked and sore lips. Gordon bit back his anger, "How's Alberto Falcone doing?"

Harvey turned his head and finally faced Gordon. His eyes were yellow and sore looking and wept constantly, "How would I know?" He asked gruffly, almost like an insolent child would and Gordon smiled to himself at how easy Harvey Bullock was to read.

"I passed him in the hallway is all, said he had come to see an old friend." Harvey shrugged at this. As dumb as Harvey seemed to be, he had kept his involvement with the Falcone family tightly sealed. For the last ten years Gordon had dug and dug only to find nothing that could be used to implicate the man.

It was the next response that stunned Gordon. "I'm done with all that," Harvey said and absently wiped at his eyes. Gordon realised that the tears were not due to the state of his eyes, Harvey Bullock was actually crying, he had just done something that had taken more courage than Gordon had thought the man had. "Takes a near death experience to realise what sort of shit you have done in this world."

"Atleast you're still in this world and can try and clean it up." Gordon did not want to push the man, this was a damn near confession but one that could never be used in court or uttered again outside of this room Gordon had decided. 

Bullock nodded, "What little time I have left." He gave a resigned sigh and began clicking through channels. The silence dragged out between them until he stopped on a news story, the volume was low but both men could make out what had happened to the two dazed and confused muggers on the screen, "Looks like Batman's lost his balls but grown a set of tits."

Gordon rubbed his forehead, the Batman situation had gotten out of hand fast, three civilians had died within the first five days, all dressed up as Batman. Seeing fellow officers being cuffed and charged had taken the eagerness out of the rest of them to shoot on sight. It had sent a hard message too, that Commissioner Gordon was still in charge. Now a new worry had hit the streets in the shape of a woman running about as Batman. They had named her Batgirl and she was becoming a hot news item as she filled the two week disappearance of Batman one of the more positive aspects for Jim Gordon was that the mayor had no idea how to handle her. "She's going to get herself killed," Gordon said.

"She will do if the Joker gets his hands on her, that guy is playing it cool letting the crime families free reign until they kill one another,"

"He's insane not stupid. He knows Batman is still alive and when he hits the streets he will deal a world of hurt on them and Joker will just ride in and make a killing." Jim would deal with that maniac at a later date.

"We need these vigilante freaks off the streets Gordon, let us good cops do our jobs." Gordon bit his tongue at the way Bullock spoke. "You need to sign me off the registrar and let me get back to my job."

Gordon shook his head, "Hold on Bullock, you almost died and don't forget if it wasn't for one of those vigilante freaks you would have been dead. You are on leave with full pay until the doctors give you an all clear."

Harvey folded his arms, swearing under his breath. He closed his eyes and Gordon could see his lips moving as he counted to ten. "Fine but Batman hasn't won himself any medals or a get out of jail card with me."

"If you say so Bullock, but you are going to have to try and find him like the rest of us. Batman has officially disappeared off the face of the earth."

Wayne Manor, Sunday 6:00pm

Bruce sat in his study behind his father's old desk. His laptop hummed to itself as he stared intently at a small black box that was open in the bottom right of the screen, a white cursor flashing off and on repeatedly inside the box. This little box was currently the world to Bruce Wayne and with it he could discover Poison Ivy's real intentions, but for now it refused to open no matter how much he stared at it.

Bruce had flown down to Porto Areta a few days after his little restaurant talk with Barbara Gordon, he had a meeting with Axis Chemicals head Honcho Carlos Cesar Constance. The Axis Chemicals Corporation building dominated the cities sky line much like Wayne Enterprises on headquarters. The air conditioning within the building brought blessed relief to the scorching heat of the Brazilian sun. Bruce was ushered through security with minimal fuss and was directed to a private lift that took him directly to Constance's office.

Bruce waited patiently in the lobby outside the office, no windows and no clocks which meant Bruce spent his time staring at the folder in his lap or at the dark haired secretary who sat behind a slick desk, one minute speaking English the next fluent Cantonese or Russian. Bruce was impressed by her grasp of the languages and also her stunning good looks. 

After about forty minutes the secretary stood up from her desk and beckoned Bruce to follow her to the large oak double doors. She opened them and allowed Bruce to go through before closing them with him on the other side. Carlos Cesar Constance stood with his back to a large floor to ceiling tinted window that made up the rear wall of his office the sun was balanced perfectly behind his head creating a halo of golden light around him and his white suit. Bruce admired the theatrics of it all even if he had been made to wait forty minutes for the sun to be in just the right place!

Constance unfolded his arms and walked around the long desk extending one hand, "Mr Wayne it is an honour to finally meet you," He gripped Bruce's left hand squeezing firmly, Bruce squeezed back just a bit harder smiling inwardly as the man grimaced slightly, "Our paths were bound to meet up sooner or later. Broken arm?" The man's black hair was plastered to his skull his bronze skin almost blemish and wrinkle free.

"Polo accident, it's just dislocated, but doctors' orders." Bruce indicated the sling around his neck.

"I hardly have time for family, let alone recreation." Constance retorted and headed back around his desk, sitting down in a high backed leather chair, he motioned for Bruce to take the seat opposite the table, not surprising to Bruce it was shorter so that one had to look up to Constance. "I was surprised and intrigued by your request to see me, most people don't get this luxury but you, you require personal attention." The man knew how to berate an ego then stoke it back to life.

Bruce slid the manila folder he had carried onto the desk, "Wayne Enterprises is looking to expand this year and Axis got my attention with some of your recent research." 

Constance flipped open the folder, he noticed the USB stick stuck inside a plastic pocket next to a long winded manifest, he closed the folder without looking at the rest of the pages. "Mr Wayne, Bruce we are men of business we can dance all afternoon without exchanging any real information. So let us be real men of business and speak openly, what research and what do you propose?"

"Over the last three years Axis has been expanding its research into nature and its possible biological agents in the use of toxic chemicals and agents and more importantly how these natural elements can combat the more deadly toxins to man and the world we live in." Bruce spoke openly, hell his opening statement in the folder was what he had just said almost word for word. "Wayne enterprises want to help fund further research."

Constance nodded slowly mulling over what he had just heard, with one hand he opened the folder again and lazily flipped through pages of facts and figures. Finally he spoke, "Twelve years ago you opposed the Chemical plant in Gotham City, you were quite vocal if I remember rightly," Bruce nodded, it would hardly help to lie at this moment. "You spoke openly about the evils of Axis and what it would do to the wildlife and human habitants of Gotham. The plant opened anyway," Constance grinned, his bleached teeth gleaming white as his lips parted. "Now here you are and wanting to give me money too."

"I still believe the Chemical plant was a bad idea, a lot of what Axis does is not good...but the research that's going on, that can make a difference." Bruce stood up and leaned on the desk, "This is about making things right, I could not stop the plant but if I could help research cleaner options."

Constance let out a laugh, "Change the company from the inside you mean." Bruce nodded. Constance stood up and turned to the window, "I grew up on those streets Bruce, that harbour you can see in the distance that was my home. You slept with one eye open I can tell you, I scratched a living selling what I could in between school and the daily beatings from my father. I put myself through college, then through University." He turned to look at Bruce, "This Company was not gifted to me, I had to fight tooth and nail to be where I am right now and I will not give this company up."

"I'm not asking for the company," Bruce interjected but Constance gave a loud single laugh.

"No? Only shares, perhaps a third maybe a little bit more? Yes? Then what a few phone calls or meetings with this shareholder or that shareholder and the next board meeting I have, you are sat there in your designer suit and smug, arrogant smile. How long then before private meetings are held and my job is discussed, perhaps profit margins discussed as well and maybe how under Wayne Enterprises Axis could become something else, something more."

The man was delusional all Bruce wanted was the virus on the USB stick to be downloaded into the server so he could get at the local files. It made Bruce sick to think that he would have to give Axis any sort of money, but in Constance's business money talked and opened doors. "You have me wrong by all accounts; I don't care about Axis only its research and a better world for all. You have my proposal and a copy on the USB stick. I would recommend reading it and sharing it with your board, this company could be a market leader in a few years with my backing."

Constance picked up the folder, shook it at Bruce then dropped it in small metal waste bin at the end of the desk. "Good day Mr Wayne," he turned his back and folded his arms behind him, the meeting was over.

If anything Bruce admired the man's honest truth if a little blunt at times but he had taken the direct line and simply put would not be looking for outside money to fund the company's upcoming research ventures it still stung to be rejected. Somehow he still held out hope that the USB stick would find its way into a hard drive within the building, but hours had become days and the chance of it happening was getting slim by the hour.

Bruce's right arm felt tight, his shoulder locked up every now and then or shot a bolt of pain through him as a little reminder as to what had happened. The gunshot wound was healing nicely, if Bullock had aimed a little lower the bullet would not have lodged in his ribcage but would have ripped through his lower intestines. With his now working right arm, he shut down the program and then closed the laptop itself. The news was running on the small television near the fireplace for the time being he watched the screen with the audio muted. An old professor was still missing, more and more felons linked to the city's crime families were being collared for crimes around the city. He raised his eyebrows when the bat sign appeared and the words 'fifteen days' printed in black beneath it. The next article caught Bruce's attention and he lifted the remote hiring the volume, "...more handy work of the vigilante now known as Batgirl," The newscaster said.




The Batman: Downfall Ch. 03



"She is somewhat of a celebrity sir," Alfred said entering the room with a tray laden with a teapot, cup and milk. "Gotham seems to be handling itself quite well without you." He moved with ease across the study placing the tray on the desk with hardly a clink from the china.

Bruce would not come out and say he was jealous of the new hero in town, though deep down something stirred that had green eyes. The news reporter spoke on at length about nothing in particular about this new hero, it was simply filling the void as a video played of edited and strung together clips of Batgirl in action, or rather swinging away or running away from the camera. She certainly knew how to handle herself for the time being. Her acrobatics were impressive, was it something she had picked up in a past life perhaps, "Who does she remind you of Alfred?"

Alfred looked at the television while he poured the tea, without looking he stopped pouring at the perfect moment, his eyes never leaving the screen, a blaze of red hair beneath a rushed mask disappeared up a wall without slowing, "A younger you perhaps?" He looked Bruce's way and smiled.

"Funny." Bruce froze the image on screen, "I was thinking more along the lines of someone of a feline persuasion." The idea was absurd but there was something there perhaps, 'clutching at straws Bruce' he told himself.

Alfred straightened up and looked back at the television, "I see bat ears, not cat ears sir, I have no doubt if Miss Kyle was back in town you would know about it." Bruce failed to respond which gave Alfred the answer he had expected, "So she is back in town." 

It was times like this that Bruce felt like the young boy who had driven Alfred crazy all those years ago, he had to smile as Alfred gave him the one eyebrow arched reproachful look that would be swiftly followed by a spell of heavy duty manual work, grounding or worse mathematics. "Well a Miss Samantha Kinkalow is in town." Alfred looked at him puzzled, "Kinkalow is a breed of cat Alfred."

Gotham Royal hotel, Monday 10:00am

Bruce did not have an opening line for when Selina Kyle opened the hotel room door what could he say to a wanted cat burglar and ex-lover after five years of nothing. As it turned out it was not something he had to worry about as the door opened and he caught a fleeting glance of a blonde haired lady with a mobile phone pressed against one ear, she had opened the door and turned immediately around to walk back into the suite, "Leave the lunch on the table, your tip is there too," she called over her shoulder, then "You still with me Richard, good," back into the phone.

Bruce walked into the room and closed the door quietly behind him he took off his heavy coat and admired the suite that the Gotham Royal Hotel had given willingly to Selina. The blonde lady disappeared into one room, a bedroom with a four poster bed as she spoke on the phone. Bruce walked around the large living room, two settees in matching beige sat opposite one another a large, low glass coffee table between them, Bruce looked at the dining table noticing the hundred dollar tip sat beneath a small snow globe of Gotham City. He finally stopped his tour to look out of the window at a dreary Monday morning in Gotham City. 

"Hey your paid to deliver food not admire the view," The woman shouted over. Bruce turned and smiled at Selina Kyle, even with a blonde dye job and green contact lenses he recognised her instantly. Selina's mouth hung open then closed with a small smile, "Richard I got to go something's come up." She terminated the call as the man on the other end shouted at her not to hang up. She stared at Bruce Wayne, the man was still as handsome as ever if a little tired looking, his little crooked smile making her tingle inside as if she were a teenager again. "Look what the cat dragged in."

Bruce raised his arms from his side, "been a long time Selina, or should it be Samantha?"

Without hesitation Selina walked over to him and hugged him tightly, feeling the muscles beneath the expensive suit ripple as his arms entwined her, she kissed him gently on the lips "I can be whoever you want me to be?"

"How about a Batgirl?" Bruce whispered back.

"Kinky, but I haven't played dress up in five years Bruce," He looked at her with surprise then ran one hand through her once brunette now blonde curls, "This doesn't count." She broke the hug and walked around the low coffee table before sitting down and offering Bruce to do the same opposite her, the more distance the better. She stared at him for a long moment then let out a laugh, "Bruce Wayne, I should have known that sooner or later you'd come knocking at my door, though the question if it would be Business or pleasure seems to have been answered." Had Batman arrived this meeting would be progressing in a different, more violent way.

Bruce rubbed his clammy hands together and willed his stomach to stop flip flopping. He felt stupid for suspecting Selina of being Batgirl, though the first reason he had for being in town was going to be a more difficult one to approach. Again he did not need to worry about it as Selina broached the subject first, "Are you wondering if I am in town because of the Heart Diamond?"

"It had crossed my mind," The diamond was the largest on record and was in the middle of a world tour, which for this month landed it in the Gotham museum.

"Yes I am here for the diamond," her honesty was remarkable and a little sad that their meeting would end on a sour note, "But not to steal it," Bruce looked at her curiously as she reached across for her small clutch bag and pulled a card free. She leaned over and slid it across the low table.

Bruce picked it up, "Cable and Kinkalow Security," Bruce read aloud.

Selina nodded, "Samantha Kinkalow at your service. I am the second half of this countries upcoming security and protection services. I have dined with Presidents and Monarchs and bedded a few of them too," she said with a wink, "What's the word people use nowadays," Selina tapped one manicured index finger against her rouge tinted lips, "Ah yes, I am Legit. Surprised?"

Bruce pocketed the card, "Not at all, it's good to see and it's good to see you again." It was all true he had been stumbling over what to say before she had opened the door, then he had been a nervous wreck as he waited for her. The embrace had been like coming home...yet part of him, the part of the Batman was cautious, calculating the odds on a long con. Once a crook always a crook, but Selina had been different, she wanted to do good she just never did.

She laughed, "You don't believe me, not totally anyway," she waved him off as he opened his mouth to argue, "Don't worry Bruce, I don't blame you. I still wake up some days and don't believe it myself. I have missed you." Her smile faltered and she stood up trying to hide the way she wiped a tear from one eye. "Would you believe I cried when you disappeared after the Chemical plant fire? I was readying myself to stand over your Grave. I even started to write a eulogy then next thing you know BAM! Bruce Wayne appears in the gossip column a couple of days later"

Bruce stood up and went to her as she stood hugging herself looking out of the window. He put his hands on her shoulder and leaned in, "You of all people would have been contacted first." She remained still at the window, Bruce behind her inhaling her perfume and natural scent beneath, "Alfred knew to do that." He moved his head down and placed a gentle kiss on the nape of her neck, "I have missed you too Selina." 

He felt her body tense beneath his hands, "Don't say it if you don't mean it." She said with words thick with emotion. She had given up on Bruce Wayne when she walked out of his manor five years ago, leaving behind a man hell bent on saving a city beyond saving. Yet when she had watched the news and heard the reports that Batman had appeared badly injured if not close to death she had cried for him and knelt down praying to God for his survival. When she had discovered Bruce Wayne alive though slightly injured due to a Polo game accident she had cried tears again, this time bitter ones for not being there for him. "You have to leave."

"I have to stay," Bruce replied and turned her around finding her lips waiting for his own. His arms closing around her and pulling her in close, her mouth opened eager for his tongue to explore as her hands found his back and pulled herself closer to him.

His hands found her waist and he pulled himself firmly against her letting her feel how hard he was already becoming for her. He pushed her against the window, grabbing at her blouse and fumbling the buttons through their eyelets rapidly, Selina responded by grabbing his shirt and ripping it open, buttons flying in all directions. They kissed again harder, more animalistic now as their bodies crushed together. 

Bruce found the hem line of her dress and pushed it up past her thighs feeling her stockings on his palms as he did so. One hand found her panties and tugged at them roughly, Selina gasped as the flimsy fabric tore loudly and were then pulled abruptly from her body. Bruce leaned back unable to stop kissing her as he worked at his trousers belt, then buttons before forcing them down with his underwear making his now fully erect cock bounce free as the elasticated underwear relinquished its grip. He guided his cock head to her sex, finding her lips already moist and eager he pushed forward feeling her parting and stretching as he forced himself into her.

Selina hugged his neck as he filled her up she gasped as his thick length stretched her and filled her for the first time in five years. She freed one hand and fumbled for his toned backside and pushed herself down onto him further until he could go no deeper. There was no lingering, nothing intimate as he began to push harder and faster into her, her bare backside slapping against the window pane a gasp or grunt from her mouth with each deep thrust. 

Bruce sped up feeling Selina spreading around him, her muscles working at his cock spurring him on. He pushed deeper still somehow working faster and faster until he felt his testicles tighten and his cock spurted hard inside her.

Somehow they had made it to the bedroom and now lay entangled beneath the soft sheets, Selina rested her head on one arm looking down as Bruce drowsed away, "You know that was a bad idea don't you?"

"Was it? As far as I can tell it was a fantastic idea!" Bruce replied with a cocky smile on his face, eyes still closed. If he opened them then reality would come flooding back in and reality wore a cape and bat ears.

"This is not going to end the way we want it to," at this Bruce finally opened his eyes. "I leave Gotham in a couple of weeks and we'll have a meal where you beg me to stay but we both know it is not going to happen."

"But you'll ask me to leave Gotham for good," Bruce continued and Selina nodded slowly. "And I will say no," the reality and the truth of their life together was painful and never ending.

"Because He has unfinished work to do," Selina finished for him, neither of them needed to mention who He was, they both knew. "He is still there Bruce, waiting to come out again Police warrant or no police warrant you cannot just lock him away, I know it and you know it."

Bruce pushed himself up, wincing as a dull pain throbbed from his right shoulder, he half rolled and gave Selina a long kiss, "When the time comes, will you be waiting for me?" The smile was genuine and what Bruce had yearned for, the gentle nod she gave was not needed.

Boone Arboretum, Monday noon

Harley disliked the new guy helping Ivy. They talked about things Harley knew nothing about, they whispered and laughed, they whispered and fought but without Klaus the spray would not have been completed. Poison Ivy held the small bottle in her hand now, the clear liquid inside swilling about gently, "Can you reproduce it?" She asked not taking her eyes off the bottle.

Klaus Cannon shook his head, his wild grey hair swaying back and forth, "n-n-n-not a c-c-chance," his stutter grated on Harley and she balled her fists at her side. "I would need m-m-m-more of the source." Harley had broken the good, mad doctor out of Arkham along with another party of interest for Ivy. Now that guy had really scared Harley, her eyes strayed to a metal door, vines and creepers stretched across the cool metal, holding the door firmly shut and it's inhabitant locked away for the time being. 

Within three days Klaus had worked out the issue by using pressure rather than evaporation and condensing. A new piece of machinery had turned up at the doctors request, Harley had slowly started to realise that Ivy was being funded somehow by someone, but getting to Ivy lately had been impossible as the spray neared completion. Now Ivy wanted more but she had wasted so much of it that all they were now left with sat snuggly in Poison Ivy's hand. "O-o-o-o-one spray, up close or it w-w-w-w"

"Won't work we get it you stuttering fuck," Harley spat out silencing the doctor instantly he cowered in his chair shrinking inwardly, how he had survived Arkham Harley would never know. "Thing is, it isn't going to work anyway with no Bats to spray it on."

Poison Ivy could not agree more, The Batman had been scarce for over two weeks. Not dead, certainly not dead but lying low, Gothamites loved him even more now, every night he evaded the police the more they cheered his name and this new one. This Batgirl was unexpected, a mild diversion at any other time but now someone who posed a real hindrance. "Klaus clean the lab and prepare agent two for aerial dispersal, we keep to the plan." Harley took a deep breath but Ivy cut her off before she could shout the place down, "You wanted to play my little Quinn now you shall get your chance, Joker and the others might be lying low but we don't have that luxury anymore. Go wake The Batman."

"What about Bat-Bitch?" Harley knew the answer but just loved hearing Ivy's dulcet southern tones that made her panties moist.

"Kill her if you have to, but make sure Batman gets the package." Ivy tossed a small clear baggie containing dust and debris, Harley caught it one handed and ran out of the Arboretum squealing like a little girl. 

The laughter had woken the man behind the closed metal door, the creepers pushed harder against the thick door as two powerful arms hammered on the other side a roar muffled by a mask poured out as the thick fists hit the door repeatedly, "In time my boy, you can have your fun too." Ivy said and smiled to herself.

Gotham Museum, Monday 9:22pm

Samantha did one last circuit of the Museum, Richard never understood why she was so hands on with each job they took, he was happy to sign on the dotted line then hand the grunt work to their employee's nearly all of who were either ex-military or ex-secret service they knew their jobs and did not need Richard or Samantha watching over them. But Samantha had an eye for things others would overlook. She had spent half her early life as a thief, an exceptional one at that which meant she could see things that others would not look twice at.

The sewers for instance, smelly for certain but with so many tunnels new and old some of them leading right into the museums lower floors where alarms had never been placed. These were sealed now, small windows also sealed even though the Museum curator had laughed when she had said a midget could squeeze through. He had not laughed at all when she had hired one to break in and leave a particularly smelly gift in the Curators office to prove her point. 

The Diamond sat on a marble dais a Perspex stand lifting the stone further up in the middle of one hall inside a large glass dome which was bullet proof and almost shatterproof if someone tried to use a resonance field. Red rope surrounded that leaving it tantalisingly just out of reach of the thousands of people who would be viewing it in ten hours' time.

It was the hall itself that now made Samantha jittery it was open on all sides by large archways that led to four long corridors with rooms leading off those as you headed down. Yes, looking from the end of one corridor up to the diamond was an impressive sight but it gave someone a clear line to run down too. The only agreement Samantha and the curator could come to was for her security team to be in the hall at all times and armed. She walked in through one of the archways now and was greeted with a stern nod by the two night guards, pistols holstered and their MP5 submachine guns nestled in their arms. 

"Enjoy the silence while you can Jimmy, tomorrow is going to be hell, just don't let your guard down now." Samantha joked to the bulkier of the two guards, ex-army with a buzz cut haircut he refused to grow out.

Jimmy gave a big smile, "Don't worry Ms Kinkalow if any midgets try to get in, me and Diego can handle it." The midget story had spread like wildfire through the team. Samantha opened her mouth to speak when the roof exploded.

The streets of Gotham, 6:30pm

Barbara Gordon had become Batgirl there was no way around it no way of changing the name it was not going to go away so she had embraced it and found that she kind of liked it after all if she put the feminism to one side. Batgirl had found her feet, now she lunged from rooftops and swung in graceful arcs landing with ease on her feet or rolling elegantly and unfurling with gymnastic aplomb, it was nearing midnight and she had foiled two carjacking's and one mugging. It was wonderful but also a little samey, where were the big guys, the crime family bosses, the Joker, the Penguin even two face was nowhere to be seen. 

Batman was not dead they all knew it, why go out and cause mayhem that would draw him to them, leave it to the police and then have Gotham all to themselves. The radio in her earpiece crackled with chatter from the police cars and dispatch, after three weeks things were getting back to the mundane, Batman was not about so regular crime had to fill the gap. 

She realised she was bored, the thrill was still there, sort of, but the crooks were mundane and the last one simply lay down with his arms behind his back, where was the fun in that. She arched her back feeling the muscles stretch and loosen up she gave a sigh of relief just as the radio in her ear exploded with chatter.

Gotham Museum,

Harley Quinn was the first one down the rope, the smoke had not cleared, some of the iron work was still smouldering from the blast but she could not wait to cause more havoc. She hit the ground with a "Ta-dah!" and arms raised straight above her head, she heard her men landing all around her gruff grunts and heavy boots. Harley had come with six of them, all the more to really tear the place up. Harley spotted the two guards which was kind of easy as they raised their submachine guns at her, everyone was shouting to drop their weapons even her men were shouting it, Harley yelled over the top of them all and silence fell, "Gee fella's you all take too much testosterone this morning," No one replied.

Harley watched the woman stand up her legs wobbling threatening to give way beneath her "Hey cutie pie," Harley called out and the lady looked at her with confusion, for a second Harley thought she recognised her, but she was too clean cut to be anyone Harley Quinn would hang with. "We are here for the diamond, hand it over and no one gets hurt."

Samantha blinked repeatedly clearing her vision and hoping the ringing in her ears would stop on its own. She made out the woman in front of her, which was not difficult to do, there were not many women wearing fishnets, plaid skirt and white face make up around Gotham. "That's not going to happen, Harley Quinn." She said the name before thinking and cursed herself.




The Batman: Downfall Ch. 03



Harley cocked her head to one side, this floozy knew her name. Maybe Harley did know her but where from, "Do I know you?" The woman shook her head, "But you know me?"

"Samantha Kinkalow I run the security detail here and I make it my business to know all the petty criminals in Gotham." She did not want to antagonise Harley but it was too easy to slip into her old ways atleast this way she hoped it would keep them talking long enough for the news teams to turn up.

"Petty Criminal, lady you're talking to the person who is going to be running this town soon." What she did next caught Samantha off guard. Harley reached behind and pulled a revolver from where it sat in the waist of her skirt, Samantha had time to say 'wait' before Harley pulled the trigger sending her flying backwards.

The smoke could be seen high above the rooftops but Batgirl had to circumnavigate some higher roofs making her journey across town to the Museum less of a direct path. When she finally landed on the museum she was greeted to the site of twisted metal, ripped up masonry and shattered glass no one stood guard near the hole in the roof and she rushed forward stopping short as the sound of a single gunshot peeled out followed by girlish laughter. Batgirl leaned over, she made out six, no seven people now all armed. Two other men were lowering their weapons at the behest of the woman who was clearly in charge. She watched as four men broke away and wrestled the guards to the ground, it was the perfect chance.

"Watch out!" Billy shouted out, he had caught sight of someone on the roof at the last second when he looked up a figure was falling down, his shout was the last thing he said before the figure landed hard on him.

Harley turned and fired instantly missing her target by miles but putting a lovely hole into a painting hanging on the wall, she had hoped for Batman but the figure that cartwheeled away was clearly female, "well, well, well if it isn't the Bat-Bitch as I live and breathe." The figure darted behind an archway and out of direct line of site. "Come out and play with us," Harley's men began spreading out, she had chosen wisely making sure she had picked guys with brains, but even she was impressed with how they fanned out and even more impressed as two of them slipped off to get round back of the Batgirl.

Wayne Manor,

Alfred had been in the kitchen cleaning up after his supper, the television was on in the background but he was not really paying particular attention to it. At the moment he was trying to work out what Selina Kyle would do to Master Bruce's plans. The Bat cloak for the time being was hung up, the suit re-modelled but now unused and unneeded, perhaps if Selina were to push Bruce harder it would remain that way forever. Alfred could not stand the idea of standing over another Wayne's grave again.

Alfred's head flicked round at the mention of the museum, the plate in his hand slid from his soapy grip shattering on the tiled floor. His mouth opened and closed as the onsite reporter talked away about a robbery in progress, then "Oh no," Alfred muttered as a picture of Samantha Kinkalow appeared next to two images of two men.

"Sir, Sir?" Alfred called out his voice echoing around the vastness of Wayne Manor. He walked faster than his legs could manage his heart racing as the news replayed in his head. He reached the grand stairway that led up and felt relief that he would not have to climb them as he saw Bruce Wayne running down them two steps at a time.

"What is it Alfred?" Bruce checked the man over, was he having a heart attack a stroke.

"The news sir, there is trouble at the museum." Alfred led him to the study where he turned on the television. The screen filled with an aerial shot of the museum and a close up of the hole that had ripped it open. Bruce could hear the news reporter wittering on but could not comprehend what they were saying. His own heart stopped at a name, his blood froze as a picture of Samantha Kinkalow appeared in the top right corner.

Bruce walked with purpose to the fish tank. He sunk one arm in, not giving any notice as his shirt sleeve become soaked. He found the button, slimy to his touch and pressed firmly down. Behind him the bookcase slid open with a sigh.

Gotham Museum,

Harley ran her hand over the glass dome it was a rather brilliant piece of equipment blemish free and impervious...well almost. Joe handed over the small box with a cone on the front, she flipped the on switch and a high pitched warble filled the air. The glass did not even vibrate, "It's gonna get loud in here boys and girls," she turned a small dial and the warble rose higher. As she waited Harley pulled out the little clear baggie from her cleavage, she pulled it open and sprinkled the debris at her feet. She looked at it then stomped on it, making it look a lot less like it had just been dropped there.

Batgirl had slid off down the corridor, she had heard movement not far away and had decided not to play possum and wait to get caught in an ambush. With the museum closed the lights were on but dimmed down, the shadows long and deep giving her ample room to sneak through the room. She stopped as two henchmen ran in ducking here and there and whispering far too loudly. 

She waited patiently, she grabbed the fat henchman by the leg pulling it up and sending him sprawling onto his back with a shout before she popped him square in the face with a punch. The second guy came running over quickly no care for his own safety and received a swift roundhouse kick to the head that sent him spinning through the air and crashing to the ground. 

She made sure both thugs were out cold, noticing the white greasepaint they were wearing Joker's henchmen and no doubt on a job for him. With that Batgirl sped off, cutting into the next corridor giddy at the sight of Harley Quinn's back to her.

The dial was almost at its limit and the glass dome had yet to even start vibrating, Harley was growing impatient the museum would be surrounded by now, their only way in or out would be the roof and she'd rather be fighting up there than trapped in here. She turned the dial once more and yelped with joy as the dome began to vibrate she went to increase it again when a heavy hand landed on her shoulder and spun her around. Harley had chance to notice the woman she had shot now had one green eye and one blue eye before the punch sent her crashing to the ground.

Batgirl tottered to a stop and watched as the shot woman got up and rushed Harley Quinn, 'Is she crazy?' Barbara thought and could not help but smile when she sent Harley to the ground with a punch. The gadget spun across the ground and Batgirl darted for it as another henchman did the same. 

She collided with him at full speed and they both fell to the ground. She tried to get up but her arm was held fast in a tight grip, the punch to her side winded her instantly and the blows kept on coming. 'Don't cry out' she repeated in her head, biting back the cry that was building from the never ending punches. She swung her head round and brought it down hard onto the clown faced henchman.

The grip loosened enough and she rolled as best she could away finding her feet and springing up just as two more men came at her with guns raised high. She unhooked a smoke grenade from her belt, flicked the pin free and tossed it full force at the closest one. It landed with a solid THWACK! At the side of his head and erupted smoke as it and the man landed on the ground. The second guy came to an abrupt halt as batgirls foot connected hard with his stomach and he doubled over in agony on the floor as the hall rapidly started to fill with smoke.

'Silly girl,' Selina thought as the smoke bomb erupted not far from her, it was a silly mistake that could cost someone their life in the confines of the room. Already it was filling up and Selina made a quick dash for Harley before she was lost in the smoke. The foot caught her below the ribs and stopped her in her tracks, Harley threw a lazy punch that Selina grabbed and pulled her in close. "I shot you!" Harley spat out as Samantha brought her head forward connecting squarely with Harley's.

Selina pulled her blue blouse open revealing the body armour beneath, "How stupid are you Harley?" She spat out. The smoke was blinding her, but so were the stars that now exploded in her vision but Selina sprang like the cat of old at her dazed prey. Harley danced to the right at the last moment one arm swiping out at Selina who felt the sting of a blade as it sliced her forearm a moment later. 

Harley was in a rage, she would not be outwitted by some stupid blonde bimbo in a vest and her blade would finish the job the bullet had started. Harley spun around feinting with the blade making the blonde lady move to her right with no time at all Harley rushed in with a solid punch to her kidneys, deflecting a punch to her head with her left arm then returning the failed punch with one of her own that sent the lady in a daze to the ground, the blade came down in an vicious arc.

It landed and snapped on a black, heavy armoured arm.

Harley's legs were kicked out from under her and she fell hard on her backside. The smoke was dense now, the lighting crazy casting shifting shadows. One shadow though remained solid and loomed over her. Harley scooted backwards on her backside. "How you doin' Bats?" she called out.

Batgirl found the gadget and hit the red switch cutting the whine off instantly, she looked around finding it almost impossible to see anything in the smoke, she was not certain but she thought she had seen a familiar shape. She moved forward crouching down, coughing as the smoke got into her lungs and irritated them. She almost fell over the blonde haired lady, "Are you okay?" she asked helping her to her feet noticing the nasty cut that ran up one arm.

Selina nodded, she felt okay but slow and stupid to have been caught out by such a sucker punch. She looked around trying to find Bruce through the smoke, one moment he was there the next gone. "Where is he?" Selina asked huskily.

"Who?" Batgirl asked, though she thought she knew the answer already.

Harley rushed him again, kicks flying and punches landing ineffectually against body armour or deflected by a swift hand or leg, any injuries he had sustained in the chemical blast were clearly things of the past as he deflected blows and returned his own with fluid speed. "No fair that's cheatin'!" she spat out as she danced backwards trying to get some space between them. She had gotten his attention alright but the plan was nothing if he caught her now. Harley could hear the sound of feet running down the corridors, radios booming and cops shouting as they ran, she had almost done a full circuit of the room if there were any henchmen left, they would be arrested but that was life of a henchman and if anything they would be collared as Joker's henchman confusing Batman all the more with any luck "I'd love to stay and chat Bats but I got a dinner date with Mr J." Harley felt the reassuring knot of rope hit her leg and quickly darted up it.

Bruce ran forward grabbing the rope as Harley ascended quickly, he pulled hard hoping to dislodge her but she barely paused, he could hear the cops now not more than a hundred meters from them he turned quickly and located Selina and the young woman dressed as a bat. "Are you okay?" he asked Selina and she nodded wearily. He turned to the Batgirl, "You come with me and fast."

Selina hit the ground making herself as small as possible, she covered her ears as the police crashed into the room, the gunfire made her ears ache, even with them covered. Bullets flew low then high as Batman ascended through the hole in the roof. 

Above the streets of Gotham,

Batman and Batgirl were through the roof before the first barrage of bullets hit the sconces of the ceiling below them, the police helicopter was turning lazily as it buzzed off the Channel Four News helicopter. Bruce grabbed the girls arm and pulled her towards the rear of the museum. With his other hand free he pulled his grappling gun free and fired it high, he held his breath as the projectile landed and sunk in, the gun breaking hard then pulling them up and away from the museum.

Barbara had never felt so alive, she had gone to war with a real bad guy, had fought side by side with The Batman and left in a hail of gun fire she had never felt so alive or turned on as she did that moment. She followed close behind The Batman matching his jump and speed, proving that she was easily his equal if it needed to be proved after tonight. The sound of helicopters grew further away as they headed south to the lower slums of Gotham, after almost a mile they came to a stop. 

"You need to quit and go home." Batman said as the grappling gun line reeled back in. He looked at the girl, her make shift outfit was actually pretty good, armour in the right places if a little over padded, her frame was muscle and curves the sort of body that would have Bruce Wayne's attention if it were in a cocktail dress. The red hair was a little distracting; she had obviously gone for leaving it loose rather than cutting it short. He had hesitated going into the museum when he had seen Selina fighting as well as Batgirl he only intervened when she had gone and thrown the smoke bomb that had been crazy.

"Like hell I do," she responded back, "If it wasn't for me they would have taken that diamond and disappeared into the night before you got your lazy old backside there."

"Human life is worth more than any diamond, gold bars or Jewellery." He almost towered over her but she refused to flinch or back down, "What you did was reckless and could have cost an innocent woman her life." He was angrier than he should have been, but this girl was stupider than she should be. "This is not a game there are no second chances or replays." The anger in her eyes was astounding and almost familiar the thought flittered through his head then disappeared. "You have guts but you need to use your head."

The high of the moment was fading rapidly, "I use my head just fine, so I made a mistake I will learn from it and be better next time." She puffed out her chest, there was no way she was going to let Batman berate her for a tiny mistake.

"There won't be a next time," He turned his back on her and before she could stop him he had dropped from the roof. She ran to the ledge and looked over, nothing but the city streets and oblivious pedestrians could be seen, Batman had vanished.

Gotham Museum,

Jim Gordon had to look twice at Samantha Kinkalow, even dishevelled she was stunning and he found himself blushing. A paramedic was stood over her sewing up a nasty cut in one forearm, he watched as the needle pierced skin, pulling the wound closed as it travelled in and out she hardly seemed to notice, shock perhaps. His officers were loading six rather dazed and bruised individuals into the back of a police van, there grease paint told him all he needed to know the Joker was showing his hand early after all. Gordon motioned for one of the Captains to come over, "Captain Rodgers, I want every man here to hand in their fire arms at the end of their shift and those found to have been used I want those officers suspended." 

The Captains mouth dropped open, "Sir if I may that seems a little harsh,"

Gordon rounded on him with all his fury, "Three men have died in the last two weeks because of this damn warrant and a lady almost got riddled with bullets tonight for no other reason than the Batman may have been in there. I want them suspended with no pay for two weeks, maybe then we will get some order to my police force once more." The Captain nodded and sped off to pass the message on. 

Gordon leaned his head back and rubbed the nape of his neck, his eyes landed on a figure hidden amongst the gargoyles on the museums roof he swallowed hard finding his breath and trying to hide the relieved smile that had started to creep onto his weathered face "When is forensics due?" He asked another junior officer as he hurried on by the Commissioner.

"On their way, maybe ten minutes." He replied quickly with a shaky voice.

"Fine, I don't want any flat foot, swat member or John Q Public in there until they turn up." The officer nodded and grabbed another couple of officers to help stand guard. Gordon strode up the steep steps and went into the museum.

Jim Gordon surveyed the room, his mouth open in horror at what he saw. Not a single wall had survived the onslaught of officers as they unloaded their revolvers at a moving shadow. Officers milled around cordoning off the room and Jim shooed them off, he walked the scene slowly trying to get his head around the craziness of over fifteen officers opening fire at the same time. Paintings hung in tatters, plaster board was ripped apart but in the middle of it all the biggest diamond he had ever seen sat gleaming beneath a glass dome that hardly showed a mark.

"You took your time," Gordon said, he looked through the dome as one shadow attached from the others and approached him slowly, "Just me here now."

"I'm not sure that's reassuring." Batman said stopping on the other side of the glass dome. He looked in better condition than he had outside the chemical factory. That seemed like years to Gordon now so much had happened in such a short space of time. 

"I doubt you'd let me arrest you even if I tried," Gordon replied. "It was not my idea you know, damn mayor pushes hard when he wants to."

"I know," Batman replied then began to walk the scene slowly. Bullet casings were everywhere, trace was smeared from different shoes and soles. It was a total mess if there was useable evidence it was more than likely lost. Gordon stepped back silently and left him to his work. He found heel marks, light dust, some blood 'Selina's' he thought. Then he noticed a boot print, an ace of spades clear in the centre, he knelt down inspecting closer, the dust was not plaster board without looking he reached to his belt and opened up a small compartment pulling out a vial and tweezers. He worked quickly, gathering the trace evidence. 

He finally stood up and looked about, finding Gordon leaning in one archway, "It's good to know your still on my side."

"I'm not the only one you know, on the law enforcement side atleast. And that Batgirl seems to be pretty handy." Batman responded with a gruff laugh, "I see she's not with you, she miss her curfew?"

Batman fired his grappling gun upwards catching the roof easily, "Something like that," and then shot upwards before disappearing into the night.



The Batman: Downfall Ch. 04



Gotham General,

The conversation with Alberto Falcone kept playing over and over in Harvey Bullocks head, the guy was a weasel, not even half the man his father Carmine was. Even so, when Alberto had taken hold of Bullocks hand in his cold, clammy hands he had flinched ever so slightly. It was like being touched by death. "Get well soon officer Bullock, just be careful out on those streets you hear." The smile was grim he held bullocks hand for far too long in the silence that proceeded. Alberto finally nodded and let go of Bullocks hand as he stood up. "You were a good man," he said and gave a curt nod then turned and walked out.

He had not slept fitfully since, every time his hospital room door opened he would sit or atleast try and sit upright, his hand going to his bedside looking for the service revolver that was never there. Every doctor or nurse who came suddenly had that look about them. He would break out in a cold sweat when a syringe came into view or they offered him a cup of pills to offset the toxins in his body.

Which led him to where he was right now, stood at the main desk trying to discharge himself even as the duty nurse urged him to stay. "Look lady I'm not going to sue you or the hospital,"

The nurse, cute, blonde and Harvey's type but they were all Harvey's type. "It's not that Officer Bullock, you are not fit to leave this hospital, you're vitals need to be monitored and those sores can easily become infected again." Harvey reached up absently and touched the sensitive skin on his face, the lumps coarse and dry under his fingertips.

"I'm fine lady, just hand me the forms and you can give my bed to someone who needs it more than I do." The nurse hesitated then reached into a drawer pulling out the release paperwork. She placed them on the counter and handed Bullock a pen, she told him where to sign and Bullock left scrawls over all the sheets she pointed to. 

Bullock found he was holding his breath when the elevator doors opened, he expected to see a barrel of a gun but instead nothing but an empty compartment, which seemed even more unsettling. He hit the ground floor button and then repeatedly mashed the door close button until they finally began a long, slow close.

Out on his streets Bullock sighed with relief, sure it was crowded and at any minute one of Falcone's goons could stab him with a long knife leaving him to bleed to death where he stood but atleast he would die looking at the blue sky and grey buildings of Gotham instead of in a hospital bed hitting a call button that would never get answered.

He began to walk east, for no other reason than his feet were taking him that way, he reached into his coat and found his wallet, he had a few bills in there and his bank card, he next checked for his phone. Someone had taken the decency to turn it off and he was relieved when it lit up with just under half a battery remaining. Bullock smiled as three then four messages pinged up on his screen "Who knew I was so loved," he said out loud. He scanned the messages deleting three of them and leaving the one from Rosa saved, he would certainly give Rosa a call but first things first. 

Bullock paused by a bus stop, the traffic was heavy and he pressed the phone firmly to his ear as it started to ring. After four rings the line clicked and Bullock dispensed with the niceties "Travis its Bullock."

"Bullock, how did you get out of the hospital already?" His partner said on the other end, Bullock could hear the ambient noise, Travis was at headquarters. 

"Signed myself out, those four walls were starting to bug me out," now came the tough bit. They had only been partners for a few years, no family barbeques (Bullock had no family) no Thanksgiving dinners (Bullock worked every Thanksgiving) but they got along okay, "I need a favour." He could hear the heavy swallow over the phone then the ambient noise changing as Travis moved.

"When you ask for favours someone has to write a lot of paperwork." Travis said and his voice echoed off of a wall.

'Men's toilets' Bullock knew instantly, "I need my service gun and a couple of pieces from storage."

Travis groaned and sighed, "Bullock you are crazy, Gordon will string you and me up." Bullock played the silent angel, letting his partner deal with his inner conflict, he smiled widely when Travis spoke up again, "Your gun I can get, but there is no way I can get into storage. Gordon has a couple of guys from IA in there doing an audit, seems a few of our guys decided to help themselves over the last few weeks."

Now it was Bullocks turn to groan, he knew who would have gone down there, Greggs was one Canetti was another for certain, he could probably name a handful more. How the hell Gotham had not been destroyed by now was a miracle and that was from a man who gave up on God a long time ago. "Okay, okay leave the storage just get me my piece will you." The bus pulled up at the stop, the doors hissing open, Bullock signalled at the driver to hang on, "Meet me at the cemetery in an hour or so." He hung up not waiting for an answer.

Bullock always found solace out at the cemetery. No crowds of people, no constant noise here he could be among people who did not talk and annoy him. He walked the avenues, a route his feet now took him on instinct, usually when he was working on a case that had brought him to a dead end, no pun intended. Now his feet took him on the same route, only this time Bullock started to see the names on the headstones. Gotham had a lot of dead Bullock knew that for certain and the years on the headstones told him the dead had been piling up on this hill for too long.

At the peak of the hill beneath a grouping of Ash tree's he turned and looked down on the city. The nape of his neck itched, was there a red dot now just hovering there. He kept his hands in his pockets refusing to give in to the jitters, a police siren kicked in near the needles a moment later a police helicopter swooped from around the Wayne Enterprises tower heading the same way. Bullock turned to his right, the other Wayne building could just be seen. Wayne Manor and its lush green lands on the outskirts of the city. Now there was a man Bullock admired, but not out loud. Bruce Wayne was a true son of Gotham and he kept his business here and helped the best he could, or atleast the best he could for that month, the guy was super rich he could afford to give a few more millions away.

The car stopped at the cemetery entrance and Bullock watched his partner take the long walk up the hill to where he waited. "Why couldn't we meet in Luigi's or at your apartment?" Travis said out of breath.

"I like it here," He replied, just finishing short of saying he could see anyone coming.

Travis took in the view briefly then handed a crumpled brown paper bag to Bullock, "Service revolver and your back up, plus some ammo. Don't say I don't do anything for you." Bullock was surprised to see the bag. In his past life it would have been full of cash.

"No badge?" He asked jokingly. Travis went to argue and Bullock laughed him off, "Just kidding, thanks partner." He took the revolver from the bag feeling the comfortable weight and slipped it into his coat pocket, the box of ammo he slipped in the opposite pocket. The spare was a small Smith & Wesson 38 special, nothing spectacular but it would stop anyone coming at him. He knew Rosa would have a belt holster and ankle holster somewhere in her home.

"You think you can shoot the Bat again?" Travis asked.

Bullock looked up surprised at the question, the guns were not for Batman, not totally, Harvey Bullock had a mark on his head and sooner or later the Falcone family would call to collect, this was too much to explain to Travis so he simply replied, "Something like that."

He tried to call Rosa but found every time he hit dial he quickly hit end call. He sat on the bus doing the same routine over and over and before he knew it he was getting off in the needles a block from Rosa's home. He hit the buzzer for her apartment, watching kids who should have been at school playing in the streets, he gave a quick glance up and down the street no cars looked out of place no guys in Italian suits eating Gyro's at the stand on the corner either. "Billy if that's you I told you I ain't got your money until Friday." The young voice sounded scratchy through the speaker.

"Rosa it's me open up." Bullock spoke over her and the door was instantly buzzed open.

Rosa greeted him at the door to her apartment. Her black hair was a mess and her dark skin looked pale, she hugged the big bear of a man, her small arms hardly reaching around his frame. Bullock hugged her back feeling her skinny frame beneath the simple shift she had on. "I missed you daddy bear," she said into his chest. 

"I missed you to, I was going to call ahead but..." the words failed him, "can we go in?" Rosa took his hand in hers and led him into the apartment.

Rosa was twenty five and lived by herself. Bullock had arrested her for prostitution and possession six years previously but she never got to the police station. They had sat in the squad car and talked straight for the rest of his shift, Bullock would not call Rosa his kindred spirit but they were certainly cut from the same cloth. Since then she had quit prostitution, gotten a full time job at a diner just down the road. The drugs were still a problem though but Bullock was getting there with her. 

The curtains were drawn shut, and the lights were off. Candles were lit on nearly all available spaces, if it wasn't for the radio playing away Bullock would have thought the power had been cut. There was a slight smell in the air, incense mixed with marijuana. He walked lazily by the dining table and noticed flecks of white powder. "How much are you on now?" He asked outright.

Rosa hugged herself, "Hardly anything now, can go a day or two before it gets bad, maybe four days before it gets really bad." Bullock nodded slowly, "The Mary Jane is a different story but that's helping me keep off of the hard stuff."

"Is Billy your dealer?" Bullock asked. Rosa hesitated then nodded. "How much you owe him?"

She bit her lip, "Couple of hundred, but I get paid Friday. I'll just have to miss my rent payment, though Mr Li has said I can pay him another way." 

Harvey struck out, his hand slapping hard across Rosa's face, "No, that's not you anymore." His anger had turned his cheeks red he gritted his teeth and balled his fists willing the anger to go away. "Call Billy tell him you have his money and to get over here." 

Rosa lowered her hand from her face; Bullock winced when he saw the mark he had left on her chocolate coloured skin. She picked her mobile phone up from the settee; Bullock was not surprised to see his number had been stored. "Billy, its Rosa." She pulled the phone from her ear as Billy shouted vile abuse down the other end, "Listen will you! I have your money...yes here right now...okay sure." She hit the terminate button as quickly as she could. "He said he'll be by in a few hours."

Bullock walked into the tiny kitchenette, he saw the half empty bottle of whiskey near the sink his hand lingered near it before he forced himself over to the fridge. Inside he saw a mix of half eaten meals, all from the diner where Rosa worked, she was living off the left overs of customers. Bullock's stomach rumbled though at the sight and he grabbed a handful of cold fries and shoved them in his mouth.

"Harvey you look a mess," Rosa said outright stood in the doorway, her arms crossed beneath her small breasts. "When was the last time you slept," she watched him grab half a hamburger and shoved it into his mouth, "Or ate?"

Bullock thought it over as he chewed, "A few days for both I guess," he had reached the point of not even trusting the meals in the hospital. He closed the fridge, feeling a little sick with the sudden rush of food to his empty stomach, "I need to lie down."

"Can I come too?" Rosa asked meekly and Bullock took her by the hand.

Rosa had helped him out of his suit and he now sat up on the bed, the whole thing barely standing on four legs with his weight on it in just his greying white boxer shorts, he wanted to sleep, for a very long time but he watched silently as Rosa slipped the straps of her dress from her shoulders and let if fall around her feet. His cock stirred in his shorts at the sight of her nakedness. Small breasts topped with dark brown nipples made black in the gloom. Her ribs were not as prominent as they once were and her stomach was a little muffin top beneath which was a mass of black pubic hair.

Rosa climbed onto the bed and pressed herself firmly against the bulk of Harvey, he closed his heavy eyelids finding the warmth from Rosa comforting. He cracked open one eye as Rosa's petite hand found his groin and hardened cock, "Rosa, baby I need to sleep." She raised one finger to his lips while her other hand pushed past the elasticated waste of his shorts and gripped his hard cock.

Bullock lay back letting Rosa pepper tiny kisses on his chest, then ample gut one of his hands found her black hair as she pulled his boxers down slightly letting his cock slap free against his stomach. Her lips found his cockhead and without hesitating she took him deep into her mouth. His girth pulled at her lips stretching her mouth almost painfully wide, her hand worked the base of his shaft as her mouth slipped up and down. Bullock's hips thrusted upwards meeting Rosa and forcing more of his cock into her mouth he sped up, he had gone so long without her that this simple pleasure was more than he could cope with.

Rosa held still letting Bullock dictate the pace, she gripped his shaft firmly, and let him force what he could further into her mouth. Bullock groaned out loudly and as he pushed up he gripped Rosa's head and forced her further down, she gagged and sputtered as he unloaded in her mouth. His grip only relinquishing as his last spurts became weak. His grip weakened on her hair and Rosa finally lifted her head. Her eyes were red and her mouth a smeared mess of spittle and cum, she smiled widely and planted a soft kiss on Bullock's lips, his response was a deep snore, he had already fallen asleep.

Bullock awoke to the sound of shouting he rubbed at bleary eyes trying to figure out where he was and what time it was. The small gap in the closed curtain was now a diffuse glow, it had slipped to late afternoon he sat up when he heard a glass shatter against the wall. Bullock stood up when he heard a heavy slap, he grabbed his pistol as he headed out the room.

Rosa was leaning with one hand on the dining table her other hand to her face, a man of Hispanic descent stood near her, his short Mohawk died purple and various piercings decorated his ears, nose and mouth. He looked up as Bullock bulldozed his way out of the bedroom, the guy smiled at the sight of the man in white shorts, clearly unaccustomed to being intimidated by anyone. "Look at this fat fuck, you the great white ape of Gotham?" The smile wavered as Bullock grabbed him by the throat and slammed him against the wall so hard that two picture frames fell and clattered on the floor.

Bullock raised his pistol and settled the barrel at the side of the guy's head, "If you're not Billy you have about five seconds left in this life to say your goodbyes." The guy nodded as best he could, the colour draining from his face as Bullocks grip on his throat closed his air passages. Bullock looked over at Rosa, who nodded wearily. 

Bullock relinquished his grip and Billy took in a lung full of air, "Who the fuck are you, do you know who your messing with?" Billy said hoarsely. Bullock removed Billy's bravado by tapping the cool metal of his gun against his thick skull and Billy winced.

"I'm Rosa's guardian angel. How much does she owe you?"

"Two ninety," Billy responded.

"Liar! It's two fifty." Rosa spat back with venom.

Bullock whacked Billy on the side of the head with the pistol, not too hard but just enough to make sure Billy was paying attention, "Alright two fifty," he looked at Bullock, "You got that kind of money angel." 

Bullock called for Rosa to get his wallet, when she came back she pulled it open and counted notes onto the table, "Grab the note that's in there too," Rosa pulled a crumpled piece of paper free and handed it to over. Bullock unfurled it and held it up for Billy to see. "You see this?"

Billy read the prescription he smiled a little at how dumb the guy was. Did he not know his name was printed on the top, "Sure do...Officer Bullock," Bullock bit back his rage at his stupidity, but it was too late to rewind and start over.

"Good, now can you get them for me?"

Billy's eyebrows knitted together, "Seriously, just go down the street and get them Holmes, you've got the prescription." Bullock whacked the side of his head again, "Fuck stop that, sure I can get them what makes you think I want to?"

"How much is left in my wallet?" Bullock called out to Rosa, he had withdrawn a healthy sum before getting to the apartment in case he needed to run. Rosa counted slowly then called back five hundred. "Okay, one hundred dollars says you'll get them and come back."

"One fifty says I'll get them and come back." Billy replied then winced as Bullock lifted his gun from his head. He sighed as Bullock lowered it to his side and stepped back nodding. 

Once Billy had left the apartment Harvey began to get dressed. Rosa kept asking him what was going on but he failed to reply, his face was starting to itch and he was certain that he would start vomiting again soon if he did not get the drugs he needed. Now that Billy knew who he was the chances that one of Falcone's boys would hear had gone up considerably, if he came back there was a chance he would bring company. "Take what's left in my wallet and get to the train station you need to go visit your ma'." 

Rosa shook her head, "Harv' you're scaring me a little, what's going on?"

"For the first time in my life I am trying to do the right thing and that is going to put you in danger, I cannot have that." He hugged Rosa close, smelling a mix of coconut shampoo and sweat beneath. "I will come for you when I'm done here okay?" She looked up at him, her eyes wet with the realisation that she may never see Harvey Bullock again.

Gotham City Police Headquarters,

Jim Gordon was sat behind his desk, a mountain of paperwork on either side of the desk with a hastily made space in between. For the moment Jim was leaning back in his old wooden chair reading a short report that had been given to him only moments ago by Internal Affairs officer James Reynolds.

Reynolds was as clean cut as they came in Gotham and Jim had called in a favour from Reynolds who had once been one of Jim's best officers. He sat opposite Jim Gordon as he went through the report he had worked up for him. It was not an A.I matter but Jim had asked for Reynolds personally and he had been more than happy to do the task, seeing him cutting through Gotham Police Headquarters had turned most of the cops white with fear, if they believed A.I was involved so be it, they did not need to know that Reynolds was doing this on the side. "So what this is telling me is that we have old and very dangerous equipment out on the streets and it is in all possibility being carried by police officers."

Reynolds nodded, "I'm afraid so Jim," Not many got to call the commissioner Jim, but as far as Gordon was concerned Reynolds had earned that honour. "How long this has been going on for I cannot say but I would hazard a guess that it's been happening for years though the activity we saw in there does tell us that perhaps the last shopping spree was as recent as a month or so ago."

Jim sighed and rubbed at his temple, "The mayor is going to have my ass for this." It was only after the museum fiasco a few days ago that he had seen unauthorised equipment turning up. The officers involved in the shootout had handed in their weapons three of which were no longer service revolvers but older, powerful models. When he had gone downstairs to the storage locker and had seen the lock missing he knew straight away what he would find in there and had called on someone he trusted to investigate.




The Batman: Downfall Ch. 04



"Jim, I understand the need to keep this in house, you have my findings there is not another copy of that report anywhere." He stood up, "Do what you need to. You know my number I can be here if and when you need me." 

Jim had called on the right man alright he thanked Reynolds at his office door, just as he went to leave Reynolds turned back around, "I almost forgot, I found something while I was down there, not sure if it will help but you never know." He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a clear evidence bag and handed it over to Jim. "It was near some old uniforms, almost missed it," Jim held the weighty object and turned it in his hand. Inside the evidence bag sat a small pink torch. "I doubt many of your female officers carry those, so who knows, find the owner and she might be willing to squeal on a few others."

Jim found it hard to breath for a moment he knew his mouth had fallen open. He caught his thoughts and looked up at Reynolds, "Thanks, that's not a bad idea." They shook hands and Reynolds left the officer, Jim closing the door swiftly behind him. He ripped the evidence bag open and pulled the torch out. He remembered buying it a few years back, a gift to Barbara in case the power ever went out in her building and she needed some light to study by, it was a silly gift but Barbara had loved it all the same. 

Barbara Gordon danced up to the front door of her father's house, she was singing away to herself full of excitement at finally moving. She had seen the landlord that afternoon during her lunch break, paid a hefty deposit and had been given the keys to her own apartment. It was nothing fancy, but it was on the top floor and near the door that led to the roof top so that would come in handy. She unlocked the front door and skipped in, "Hey Dad, you home? I got some great news." She tossed her car keys and house key into the little clay bowl she had made as a child that now sat on a table near the coats. "You can return to leading the life of a bachelor and wash your own underwear." She called out removing her coat it was only when she walked into the kitchen did her smile falter.

Her dad, Jim Gordon sat at the small dining table a cup of half-drunk coffee in front of him, he smiled up at Barbara but she could see the worried look in his eyes, she had not seen it in years and seeing it now made her stomach flip. The last time he had this look he had told her about her mother's, his wife's cancer. "What's the good news?" he said.

Barbara opened her mouth then closed it confused a little at his off kilter manner, "I just put a deposit down on an apartment in the city I move in over the weekend."

"In the city, that's a little dangerous isn't Barb'?"

"Come on dad, it's like a ten minute walk from work, it's not like I'm going to be living in the narrows, it's a nice part of town." She sat down opposite him, feeling more deflated about the move and worrying more about the look on his face. "I did my homework, the perks of being the woman in charge of the public library and works."

Jim shrugged and nodded, "Fair enough you're old enough to make the decision."

"Okay dad what's going on, you've got that look on your face and you are acting weird." She tried not to show any signs of alarm when her Dad reached into his jacket pocket and placed her torch gently on the table next to his cup. "My torch I was wondering where that had gone," she wanted to babble on but knew if she did that then he would have her fair and square in a lie she would let him do the leading for the time being.

"James Reynolds found it, you remember James don't you?" He said and Barbara nodded her brow knitting together as her hand scratched at the side of her head messing up her red hair, it was an easy tell of his Daughter that meant she was a uncomfortable. "Well he was down in the basement doing a little work for me. You see we are missing some serious bits of weapons and ammunition from the old storage locker." Barbara licked her lips and tried to look interested rather than scared. "During his sweep he found the torch near some old uniforms."

"Dad I was down there weeks ago remember?" Barbara started off with the truth it was easier that way, "I was checking the servers, I had my torch out because I couldn't get to a couple of the hard drives near the back of the room so used my torch it's not the best lit place." Now came the tough bit, she had gotten home and panicked when she looked through her handbag and discovered the torch missing, "I probably dropped it, by any chance did James find my compact while he was digging around?"

"You dropped it, in the server room?" 

"Dad you've been down there, its dark, its quiet you ever worked down there? I spooked myself out even with a ton of cops sitting right above me. I probably dropped it when I was packing up, who knows who picked it up! I ran from there the moment I was done it is just too creepy down there." Jim remained quiet taking in what his daughter had told him, he could read her like a book but not this time, she had put up a wall there were truths but also lies built into the cement he was certain of it. 

He had pieced a jigsaw together as he had waited for her the conclusion was absurd Barbara was not the type to be swinging across the rooftops of Gotham. He was surprised when she sighed and said, "Okay, okay enough with the silent cop treatment." She got up and walked out of the kitchen returning quickly with her handbag, she opened it up and pulled out an old police baton and what appeared to be police issued mace. "I took these, just to protect myself you know, the horror stories you used to tell me about Gotham. Then working here and walking the streets I kind of got myself worked up." She put them down firmly on the table and slid them across to her dad, "But I did not break in there, the lock was already off I peeked in saw this stuff and just....you know."

Jim rubbed his forehead then took his glasses off and rubbed vigorously at his eyes, "My god Barbara I could lose my job over this," he put the glasses back on, "You could go to jail," he reached over and pulled the baton and mace off the table. "Is that it, nothing else?" he hoped to God she did not pull out an old service revolver.

Barbara shook her head, "No that's it."

Jim let out a long breath, "Okay well thanks for coming clean on this, if you had used them my God we would have some explaining to do." Barbara smiled sheepishly back, he wanted to believe that was it but damn it her eyes kept darting this way and that, she was not letting on about something, "You sure that's it, you're not," how could he say it, "not up to anything dangerous are you?"

Barbara laughed, "The most dangerous thing right now is sitting in on the mayor's committee group next week." Gordon's eyes went wide, "Yeah apparently he thinks having your daughter on the committee might mean you are a little bit more cooperative." He laughed loudly at that and suddenly thoughts of winged avengers slipped from his mind as he pictured the Mayor trying to reason with Barbara.

Axis Chemicals, Porto Aereta,

Constance drummed his fingers on the arm rest of his chair as he stared out the window, he listened to the woman on the loud speaker prattle on about funding and machinery, "You have everything you need, yes?" He said cutting into her long winded speech. He smiled at the silence she was someone who did not like being talked over especially by him. She replied with a very stern 'yes' and Constance could picture her beautiful face twisting with rage and gritted teeth as she said it. "Good, then continue as planned I see no need in the foreseeable future for you to contact me again until I arrive." He spun on his chair and terminated the call with one manicured finger.

His Secretary Juliana was sat across from him, her cream blouse a size too small pulled taunt across her well-endowed chest, her black hair almost blindingly shiny cascaded over one shoulder. She was a secret weapon when it came to conferences, the men were always too busy looking at her to realise that Constance was under cutting them. "Deals with the devil springs to mind," She said as she stood up. 

Constance nodded, she was direct and he found that refreshing especially in the bedroom, she knew what she wanted and Constance was happy to give it to her, repeatedly if required. "Except this devil does not realise I am bigger devil than she is, the sooner this is at an end the better." He was not uncomfortable with the contract, in fact he had approached her with the concept, and she had an interesting way of testing products in a way that even Constance thought was a little barbaric but his buyers wanted evidence and proof, the farmers in the coastal towns had started to become savvy with regards testing so now he was being made to look elsewhere.

Constance followed Juliana out of his office, it was getting late and he needed to eat. At her desk he noticed a crumpled manila folder sitting near her computer, "That looks familiar."

Juliana briefly looked over at the folder "Bruce Wayne's proposal."

Constance groaned as he pressed the button for the lift, "I threw that away," he did not turn to look at her but stared at her fabulous figure in the mirrored doors of the elevator.

Juliana smiled, "As you do all proposal's, this one is different. You might like trying to keep your hands clean for a change." 

The lift doors slid open, disappointing Constance as he narrowly missed seeing Juliana bend over, "Not interested," he said stepping into the lift.

"He makes some good points, with what's in the folder anyway, there is a lot more data on the stick might be worth looking at?" Juliana pushed her case.

"Not. Interested," Constance repeated slowly, the lift doors started to close and he suddenly pushed his hands forward making the doors retract. "Make notes, have it on my desk for the morning."

"You want me to do this now!" Juliana cried out, Constance smiled as the doors finally shut. She kicked her metal bin over and threw a pen at the now closed lift doors, swearing under her breath as she marched over to her computer and the crumpled manila folder sat next to it.

Beneath Wayne Manor,

Bruce rubbed his eyes and watched black flowers bloom on the inside of his eyelids, he had been awake for over twenty four hours now waiting for his machinery to tell him what he had collected from the museum. He got up and paced the cave, his hands ran along the work bench fingers dancing lightly over weaponry, he picked up a small batarang as he passed by and sent it on a merry dance through his fingers one way then reversing and sending it back. Back and forth it went as its owner paced back and forth. 

Bruce knew he should not get emotionally attached to such a crime but my god did it sting to see Selina injured. It hurt him more when he realised how much he cared for her and maybe he had been a little too cautious on his assault. Selina had called him the following day, "I know you are friends with the Bat, if you see him, let him know that Samantha Kinkalow says thank you." He had smiled, even Selina knew not to trust mobile phones, who knew who was listening in at any time. "And Bruce, you keep safe too, this city is getting crazier." She wanted to add more, Bruce could hear the hesitation, the deep inhalation followed by "Goodbye," then the phone cutting out. There were three words he was certain she had been building up to say.

The computer terminal began to chime softly and Bruce spun away from the batmobile and walked briskly over to the terminal. The Gas Chromatography had finished its analysis and one screen was rapidly filling up with data. Bruce scanned it quickly, noting particles he had expected and eradicating them from the list, paring it down to a more manageable list. He sat down and leaned back in the chair, reading the list. He heard the lift doors behind opening and the unmistakable sound of Alfred whistling to himself, "Would you believe Harley Quinn is a bit of a botanist?" Bruce said without turning round.

"With that woman I can believe anything sir." Alfred slid a roast beef sandwich onto the terminal two pink sleeping pills sat neatly next to it.

Bruce picked up the sandwich and took a bite he chewed as his eyes scanned the list, "Oscula Nocte, amantes complectuntur. Those are extravagant plants to be seen this side of the equator."

Alfred looked at the names on the screen, "Those are plants?"

Bruce nodded, "Oscula Nocte or Midnight kiss and amantes complectuntur which is known as the Lovers embrace you see Alfred those Latin classes were not a waste after all." The trace found was small but just enough to give the computer a hit though it did not help Bruce much. Botanists were rare in Gotham there was one or two he would go to though, but what use they would be he was unsure of. He pulled up the original list, "There's a lot of trace in that dust," Bruce said to himself, "Plaster board, droppings, iron you name it it's there."

"Animal droppings would tend to lean towards somewhere abandoned," Alfred added just as a screen opposite him started to come to life.

Bruce nodded in agreement, sadly a lot of Gotham was abandoned, "The rust is fairly old, and I could do a test to gather a date, maybe narrow down the age of the building." Bruce tapped the screen then isolating the plaster board compound "Maybe the plaster is a special mix..."

Alfred had walked over to the main computer terminal all the screens were ablaze with the news all except one nearer the keyboard. This screen showed a black box, for weeks this box had been black apart from the single flashing cursor. That cursor was now whizzing down the screen, numbers and letters spreading out as it rapidly scrolled down, "Well who knew! Sir you need to see this,"

"Not now Alfred I am having too much fun reading the rich history of plaster board," Bruce looked up when Alfred failed to respond. "What is it?" Alfred laid his hand on the screen then motioned it to his left, within a millisecond the feed had jumped directly to the screen that Bruce was using. "Is that Axis?" Bruce asked and Alfred nodded dumbfounded. It had been a good idea but the egomaniac running the show in Axis had binned Master Bruce's proposal, virus and all or so it had seemed until now. 

Alfred walked over, "A change of heart perhaps?" Bruce quickly tapped away and entered the main database of Axis Chemicals. "How long before you are detected?"

Bruce shrugged, "In theory I won't be, the virus acts just like a local terminal so anyone scanning around will simply see someone in the building accessing the system," Bruce darted through files and folders of the research department. "If they look close enough though they will see what's happening and cut the piggy back." He smile faltered then widened, he was under the impression he was access the entire internal database of Axis, when in fact, he was only in the local hard drive of the computer the USB stick was in. "Well I'll be," he had access to Constance's files which helpfully included the research update files.

Bruce brought up the files on the main large monitor, "These are dated a few months back and are from the lead researcher here in Gotham a Doctor Klaus Cannon" Bruce began to scan read, "Arrival of specimen intact...chemical analysis...detection of Scoplomine and additional like substances which will be classed and given names upon your approval...testing to begin once chemicals extracted." They had discovered a small grouping of unknown chemicals, which the lead researcher had gone crazy over and given them absurd names. Bruce rushed down to the next update dated a few days later, "Original batch destroyed due to contamination...new batch clean and injected into test subjects...death instantaneous dosage to be lowered,"

"Well that sounds encouraging sir."

"Okay next one is a month later, subjects docile and manageable...request phase two canine testing." Alfred gave a sharp intake of breath and looked away as an image of a dog appeared on the screen, its fur covered and matted in blood and its head oddly shaped. "Phase two testing exhibiting aggressive behaviour, followed by heavy bleeding and cranium distending...autopsy report to follow and update on batch #35 to follow." 

Whatever they were testing was having some serious side effects, Bruce moved past the images that followed all showing canines in the same state as the first "As requested Phase three testing engaged..." Bruce glanced over at Alfred, both surprised that the gruesome side effects seemed to have spurred them on further, "Chimpanzee's arrived and past health checks...as requested batch #35 has now been duplicated..."

"They duplicated the batch that killed the dogs?" Alfred said alarmed and disgusted.

The final report was dated one month before the plant had gone up in flames "Effects more serious, docile and open to suggestion followed by bouts of rage, full body rash, heavy blood loss and severe cranium swelling...from point of contact to death is currently four days...suggest batch #35 be destroyed and research of Oscula Nocte be discontinued." Bruce read the last line again just to make sure he had read it correctly. He popped open the results of the Gas Chromatography and saw the name near the bottom. "Ivy and Harley are working together."

"Ivy has her hands on batch #35!" Alfred held his hand to his mouth in shock, "That woman is crazier than I thought sir, she needs to be stopped."

Bruce went to the main terminal a thought had sprouted in his head, a city map opened up on the main screen. "We find Ivy we find Harley," his eyes scanned the map, "They are creatures of habit, always returning to the same haunts..." Abandoned buildings were plentiful in Gotham, rust even more so. The sample had a mix of other chemicals including chlorine and bromide which he had put aside, now he focused on them a little more. "Pamela Isley worked in Gotham didn't she? She studied advanced Biochemistry under another doctor..."

Alfred was quickly typing into a keyboard and a name flashed up within a few seconds, "Doctor Jason Woodrue, he had a small lab on the upper west side until his arrest for the murder of one of his protégés a Miss Pamela Isley."



Gotham City,

It felt good to be back on the streets again albeit high above them. But Batman felt alive again and filled with purpose as he swung from one roof top and glided effortlessly to the next one over a block away. The time for games was over and Poison Ivy was going to fall hard for her crimes, not even Arkham Asylum would take her after her job at the Chemical factory she would be lucky to see sunlight again after the courts threw the book at her. Alfred had not even tried to slow him down as Bruce ran for his suit they exchanged minimal words as he climbed into the Batmobile and shot off. Batman landed with solid thump on the last roof and walked to its ledge. Not far from where he stood a huge sign proclaimed the site as the new home for affordable apartments made possible by Wayne Enterprises. 

Bruce had been down there a few months previous doing a press interview in front of the very building that he as Batman was now scoping out. With a quick flick of a switch on his arm the building flared green in night vision, he scanned slowly picking out two men near the steps to the building, one more on the roof pacing aimlessly. Another button and a moment of dizziness as the lenses zoomed in and he could see the snub nosed machine guns in their hands.

"I told you to quit," he said without turning around. She had made enough noise about a mile back as she tried to keep up with him, he had to admire the fact that she still managed to track him but also he felt uneasy at having her here at all.

"I guess I didn't get the email telling me you run the streets." Batgirl retorted a little out of breath as she approached him. "Who are the bad guys?" she asked looking over at the building.




The Batman: Downfall Ch. 04



He thought about ignoring her then said, "They look like Joker's men, but Joker is not in that building."

"Harley Quinn?" Batgirl asked and he nodded. "You got heat vision in there," she asked him and he nodded again hitting another button.

The men stood out against the cold street and he found himself squinting as he scanned up the building, the middle floor was an intense mix of red, yellows and white. "Third floor, there is a massive heat signature, either a party or a lot of equipment working overtime."

"Then we go in through the roof, work our way down."

"There is no we! Go home." Batman stood up his lenses returning to normal letting his eyes adjust to the darkness around him as he worked through how he was getting into the building. He felt the girl move closer to him an act of defiance to show that she was not scared of him. Batman turned around looking down on the young pretender, "People get hurt, I get hurt if this is some sort of thrill seeking adventure for you then you need to exit right now."

Batgirl shook her head, she had felt her cheeks blushing when he mentioned thrill seeking, but she had that under control now, now she was here to help people and to make up for the fiasco at the museum, "I am not going anywhere, you need my help, besides," She took a few steps back and lifted her makeshift cape and twirled around, "No more smoke bombs," she was pleased to see a slight wrinkle at the corner of the Bats mouth, "I can handle myself, you know that. But I am no Batman, not yet anyway."

Batman was impressed by her little speech and thankful she had gotten rid of her arsenal, perhaps there was hope for her yet. Batman groaned, "You follow my lead, you do as I say," she opened her mouth to say something and he lifted one black gloved hand and halted her, "no arguments." Before he turned back to the old building he reached into his belt unhooking a small mask and unclipping a couple of small capsules. He handed them over, "wear this mask at all times. There are going to be chemicals in there that are highly dangerous." He was glad to see her take the mask and briskly put it on, then she delicately took the capsules, "smoke bombs, just in case you feel the overwhelming urge to throw something."

She smiled behind the mask, the tangy metal taste in the respirator a little cloying but already she was getting used to it. "You always carry a spare or were you expecting me?" He stared at her, deep brooding eyes boring into her, no other reply came he simply turned around and shot his grapple gun at the closest building and flew.

Batgirl was impressed watching the Batman work up close, they had swung onto the roof and he had taken the guard out with a choke hold, the guard hardly wheezing and what sound escaped him was snatched up by the wind. She watched Batman's feet, how he moved silently without even trying. Though covered in body armour she could make out the bulk of the man beneath, she found herself wanting to know what that body felt like and scolded herself for thinking those thoughts. 

Batgirl followed his exact path, though her feet crunched a little louder on the grit and dirt of the rooftop he did not tell her off. When she reached the rooftop door he had already worked the lock open with a tiny lock pick. His mouth was now covered by a ridged flat mask. She had not seen him put it on so it must have been built into the mask 'I really need to see if he will let me have one of those.' She thought giddily. The thrill of the battle ahead was building in her as was the terrifying feeling that beyond this door something nasty waited perhaps a whole bunch of nasty's and she would find herself outnumbered and in trouble...only that made her adrenaline pump even faster.

The door opened with a horrible squeak and both of them tensed up and remained still, after almost a minute of no activity Batman moved forward, a fluid motion as if he were nothing more than a shadow when Batgirl followed she felt clumsier than ever before. 'How is he doing that?' she asked herself watching him almost float down the stairway as she moved as swiftly as possible behind him. He crouched down when they reached a turn in the corridor, there were three more floors to traverse down and the quickest way was the main stairwell at the end of the corridor.

Batman peered round the corner most of the lights had blown giving him, giving them the cover of darkness that was best for them. Not one guard or goon was visible, even a quick switch to night vision revealed an empty corridor. A small alarm went off in his head, a sense of unease crept into his being at the total lack of people. He turned the corner and moved at a brisk pace down towards the red door at the end of the corridor, he kept the left hand wall against his shoulder leaving the middle of the corridor totally clear, a quick glance and he was impressed to find that Batgirl had pinned herself to the right hand wall.

The door to the Laboratory of Doctor Jason Woodrue hung loosely on one hinge. Years of accumulated debris had recently been disturbed and pushed to either side of the doorway, though dirt and dust was already gathering where it had been cleared. Batman hit a switch and his gas mask slid silently up, "There's no one here." He heard Batgirl take a gulped of air as she removed her own mask. He stepped into the laboratory and stood still letting his head move from left to right his eyes taking in every detail. Someone had been here, there were clean spots here and there on the work surfaces, one bulb bare in its holding was dust free so had been placed in there recently. He looked down noticing a mix of foot prints, different sizes and different wear and tear nothing of use. 

"You see those vines?" Batgirl whispered and pointed to the smashed windows. Batman nodded, the tips of the vines were partially outside, thin tendrils that gathered rapidly in thickness as they headed to the floorboards and then disappeared beneath fallen plaster, brickwork and other debris. 

"Ivy's handwork no doubt," It atleast gave him some indication he was on the right path, but did she know he would be coming here, perhaps so, Ivy was clever, more so than Harley Quinn and after the botched museum job she may have felt compelled to move. Batman stepped further into the room now, moving slowly around the work benches heading towards a blackboard that had been hastily scrubbed clean.

Batgirl shivered, the feeling of being watched had hit her the moment they had walked through the door into the laboratory. The vines made her uneasy too, they moved and she had first put it down to the wind, but somehow that did not seem right to her. Her eyes flicked this way and that, on one work table she could see two handprints near the edge of the table, more dust had been wiped and spread, two marks were visible and Batgirl got the feeling she was perhaps looking at the prints of someone's breasts.

Batman worked quickly, he took a still image of the board then worked through filters, he could see numbers, letters, equations spanning off of others though now too faint. His lens filters worked together and gradually the board came into focus. Batch #35 had been here, in this very lab and Ivy had gone to work trying to replicate and improve it. "Something's not right here, can you feel it?" Batgirl said almost right behind him, she had moved quietly and it had even startled Batman. The shock of her being so close brought him out of his deep and troubling thoughts, he had started to see the end of the equation and the start of something quiet worrying the ability to condense and put Batch #35 into an aerosol. "Didn't you say there was a massive heat source here?"

That made Batman spin around, his eyes shot this way and that and he stepped defensively in front of Batgirl. He had seen the blackboard and instantly went to it, ignoring all the signs of a laid trap. His eyes flicked to the windows at the sound of falling glass, one green tendril had come away from the window and had slithered further up the wall coiling around the wooden beams above. Batman flicked a switch on his wrist and his heat vision kicked in.

The floor they were stood on was blinding with heat, the tendrils they could see led down beneath the floor, to a room below a room that was a rainbow mix of heat. Tendrils spread across the walls below and in the centre a huge egg shaped plant that now began to split open. "We need to move," He began to move quickly off his eyes firmly fixed on the door. The floor erupted after his first four steps. 

Batgirl fell to the ground she had seen Batman start to move when the floor exploded and a mass of green spewed out. The ground beneath her feet gave way and had sent her tumbling, she registered a thick tendril appearing where she had stood only moments ago twisting and writhing in the air before smashing down and tearing the blackboard in half. One leg went numb and she looked down to find a tendril had wrapped viscously around her just below the knee, she jerked her leg hoping to break free with little success, she let out a scream as she was lifted into the air more tendrils moved over her, caressing her finding arms, legs and waist and tightening.

If he had not fired his grapple gun Batman would have fallen straight into the waiting mouth of the monstrous plant beneath him. He remained aloft for only a few seconds, watching the thick green, brown and sticky creepers of what appeared to be part Venus fly trap and part Cape Sundew. The mouth opened and closed with a horrible snap as its tendrils frantically hunted its prey. Batman landed on one work top just as the ground beneath it gave way and it fell with heavy thud into the room below he somersaulted over to the next just as the beams holding up the ceiling were ripped loose. 

He heard Batgirl scream just as the roof gave way and the room filled with a cough inducing mix of debris and blinding dust. The remaining floor of the laboratory groaned and rumbled and Batman watched fascinated as the mutated giant plant began to pull itself up into the room. His grapple gun fired blindly and he swung through the air, one tendril swung down and with one hand Batman deftly let fly two Batarangs, both landing with a dull thud into the tendril, it curled in on itself and recoiled backwards.

Batgirl was trying to scream, her eyes wide behind her mask as the plant pulled itself into the laboratory, her breathing was laboured as one tendril tightened around her throat while another prodded at her mouth slipping into her parted lips making her gag as the sticky warm mass probed her mouth. Her eyes dropped as her lungs screamed for air, she saw a black figure swopping through the dust filled air as she finally blacked out.

Batman saw her body go limp, watched as the tendrils tightened their grip and start to pull in opposite directions. With a flick of his wrist and a squeeze of his palm the side of one armoured arm slid open and a titanium circular saw neatly popped free, spinning with high pitched whine. He aimed for the green limb around her neck getting grim satisfaction as the saw cut through with ease, he could feel the plant tremble behind him as the wound was felt. Batman wasted no time and cut away freeing her arms then legs and finally her waist, catching her limp body as it fell free. 

Each cut had brought consecutive tremors from the body of the plant and it now turned every tendril onto catching the Bat. Batman looked up seeing the clear night sky above and fired the Grapple gun skywards. Tendrils, sticky and hot found him but with Batgirl slung over his shoulder the best her could do was kick and stamp. Batman felt his right arm jerk as the grapple gun kicked in, his shoulder threatening to dislocate as he was suddenly pulled upwards.

His body bounced off exposed beams and concrete struts as he struggled to hold the lifeless body of Batgirl on his shoulder while his other hand was curled in a death grip around the handle of the grapple gun. He had looked down horrified to see that the plant had started to give chase, pulling itself from the laboratory to the floor above and continuing up in a flurry of angry green creepers that pulled its body upwards or swung out in an attempt to capture the Bat with their sticky surface.

The grapple gun came to an end a foot below a window pane free skylight, he dangled helplessly unable to swing up any further to find a handhold to which he pull them up and free. He felt the thick, hard mass of one tendril brush across his feet he looked down and saw that within another few seconds he would be in easy reach. If things could not get any worse when he looked up to see the night sky for perhaps the last time a figure stood over the skylight blocking the view moonlight highlighting the smooth sleek surface of the gun that was pointed right at him.



The Batman: Downfall Ch. 05



Woodrue laboratory,

It would be so easy Bullock thought as he pulled the hammer back on his revolver. The chamber rotated effortlessly and he knew he had a hollow point in the chamber and aimed directly at the man, at the thing that had caused years of trouble. The Batman looked up, his eyes blue and hard as ice showed no signs of pleading with him he held bullocks gaze whatever was going to happen it was up to him now.

Following Batman here was not a possibility and Harvey had known that the moment he had left Rosa's apartment. The Bat was too good and too long in the tooth to let a cop like Harvey Bullock follow him, but Batgirl she might as well have set off fireworks every time she moved. Bullock had followed her instead, though not as easy as he had thought losing her just before they reached the upper west side. 

If it had not been for the lazy goon walking the street outside the building Harvey would have missed it. The front door was barred and on closer inspection showed signs of being welded shut too the smell of it was still lingering in the air. He was halfway up the fire escape when he heard what he thought was the building collapsing, the tremor that shook the fire escape knocked it loose, the rusty frame work leaning out and Harvey had held on for dear life. 

When the structure showed no further signs of moving, Harvey moved! He had not climbed so quickly since his rookie days and had reached the roof in little under a minute. He was nearing the door to the fire exit on the roof when he heard the skylight smash behind him and a noise that sounded like a wet roar numbed him to his very core. 

His first tentative look in through the skylight was filled with chaos, his second longer look focused that chaos into shapes, green and spindly tendrils slapped and grappled across beams and flooring a huge misshapen mouth was at its centre. And dangling not more than six feet from Harvey Bullock was Batman. His instinct made him draw his revolver and now here they were at the cusp of something momentous, Harvey smiled grimly and unloaded the entire barrel.

Batman had stiffened up, how could he not. Even over the noise of destruction below him he had heard the hammer being cocked on the gun there was nothing he could do. It was such a pity that Batgirl would pay the price of Harvey Bullocks obsession. The shots were rapid fire the entire chamber unloading in seconds...only, not one bullet came near him. He heard the mutant plant below roar louder as each bullet found its mark almost dead centre near the black eclipse of what surely must be its throat.

Batman looked down at the plant. It had lost some momentum and had even slipped further down two floors before it had recovered from the sudden onslaught from above. Batman's head snapped up staring at Bullock, his gun had been replaced with an outstretched hand. "Pass me the girl and quick!" Bullock shouted out.

There was no time for Batman to weigh up whether this was a trick or not his instinct for survival was too strong. He kicked off the closest wall, pushing himself up as he did so and with a loud growl he thrust the limp body of Batgirl upwards. Batman felt the weight lessen as he reached the top of his arc and as he headed down the body of Batgirl remained aloft.

"Christ!" Bullock exclaimed feeling the weight of Batgirl he reached down with his other hand his gun discarded on the gravel rooftop. He yanked hard hearing his shirt sleeves ripping at the arms as he pulled the girl up and through the opening. He dropped her unceremoniously to the ground and stepped over her. The plant was closing in his barrage of bullets had only pissed it off even more. "Try this for size." Bullock shouted down and reached into his coat pocket. 

The metal egg shaped instrument was cool in his hot grip and he held it firmly, without looking he found the pin and pulled it free. The grenade was old and he wasted no time dropping it into the opening. Batman had glimpsed the grenade as it had gone past and now with a free hand he pulled himself close to the wall and clung on tight.

The giant mouth was hard to miss and the grenade landed with a wet thump and rolled a few inches before detonating. Harvey was blown backwards and stumbled over Batgirl falling hard onto his backside. Batman lost his grip and swung back out, feeling the air rushing past him with the explosion his body vibrating from it and felt wet and slippery debris from the plant hit against him. His view was quickly blocked by rising smoke and further debris and his ears rang loudly, when he looked up again he saw Harvey Bullock there once more both hands held out. Batman gave a harder kick off the wall, the plaster giving way this time and he lifted higher up his free hand extending as far as he could. Harvey gripped the outstretched hand and his other hand gripped Batman at the wrist and pulled him up.

Harvey stumbled backwards as Batman released his grip dropping to the ground and hovering over the limp body of Batgirl. Harvey edged closer "She okay?" he asked with no reply. Her body armour was too thick, too heavy for Batman to check for a heartbeat, he pulled a glove from one of her hands, the soft padding of his own gloves allowed him to feel a weak pulse beneath her skin. He leaned in propping her mouth open before closing his around hers applying a kiss of life. On his fourth exhale Batgirl sputtered and hacked, Batman sitting up in time to miss a thin, sticky and green mess vomit forth from her mouth.

He had not had a partner in a long time and he had never at any point classed Batgirl as a partner, more of a loose cannon, an irritant almost. But she had held her own down there and he had to admit back at the museum things would have been a lot worse had she not arrived before him. Batman had watched her body go limp in the grips of the plant and his stomach had filled with ice at the thought of losing her so soon. He held a hand under her head and helped her into a sitting up position she coughed and brought up more vicious liquid that spilled down her front. 

"Breathe easy," he said soothingly, he noticed her wincing with each breath "It will hurt for a little bit but it will get better."

"How did we get out?" she said, her voice scratchy and barely audible.

Batman looked up at Bullock who still stood over them, "Relax I am not here to arrest you, I owed you one and now we're even." Bullock spoke flippantly but there was something in the man's eyes that piqued Batman's curiosity. "And miss I would hate to see a pretty little thing like you get eaten by a plant." 

Batman checked to see if Batgirl was okay she nodded and he stood up, "Were you just passing by and saw us in trouble?"

For all the years that Harvey had hunted The Batman he had never stood this close to him before and not for so long without trying to arrest him or shoot him. The outfit was serious even with the pale yellow insignia dead centre, if he were a perp' and saw that coming out of the dark he knew he would shit himself. It was an effective sign one that had shown Gotham Police department up numerous times and Harvey Bullock more times than that. "What no thank you?" Batman failed to reply, Bullock shook his head, "Why did you save me back at the chemical plant?"

"You should not have been there, you were innocent."

Bullock laughed out loud, "Wow that's the first time I heard anyone call me that."

"And a good cop."

Bullock's smile waivered and he nodded slowly "I used to be," Bullock was closing in on forty and had nothing to show for it except a lousy apartment and an ex-hooker for a girlfriend. 

Batman saw the look in his eyes again, something weighed heavy on this man. "You can be again, it's never too late."

"You know they are going to kill me," Bullock responded.

"Who?" Batgirl asked, finally getting up from the ground on wobbly legs.

"Falcone and his boys that's who," Bullock answered and Batman smiled grimly knowing what was about to be said, "Seems they don't like cops leaving their payroll," Bullock shrugged, "you really think a bad cop can ever survive in this town?"

"Gordon does every day, you can too." Batman held out one hand and Bullock accepted it. "When the time comes I will be there for you." Bullock nodded and Batgirl looked between them, something had passed between the two men but she was unsure what it had been. She had seen her dad talk and give that look to other officers too it was nothing short of a blood oath.



Harley watched the three best friends from another rooftop, her binoculars easily picking each one of them out. She lifted her phone and hit the quick dial, the phone call connected on the first ring, "they're out and alive," Harley said her binoculars picking out the Bat-Bitch and lingering on her.

"Both of them? Well that's a little annoying," Ivy replied back, "Any idea if Batman got our little note?"

"Not from here, but if he is as good as he used to be, he got it." Harley lowered the binoculars and scowled at the three figures further away. "What do you want me to do with the bitch?"

Ivy sighed down the phone, long and languid and Harley shut her eyes, she knew what Ivy was doing and who with, she wanted nothing more than to pound the stuttering freaks face in but if that was not a viable option then the Bat-Bitch would have to do, "Leave them for now, we are too close to initiation now to risk any mishaps, come home my dear Quinn."

Boone Arboretum,

The phone was lifted from Ivy's ear by one long green tendril, another drifted by and pushed the terminate button. Ivy would have gotten the phone herself had she not been so busy. Both her hands cupped, squeezed and caressed her large pale green breasts, fingers and thumbs pulling at her dark erect nipples. While a larger tendril probed toyingly between her legs. Opposite her in an old rusted metal chair sat Klaus Cannon. His trousers and dirty urine stained pants bunched around his ankles while one hand gripped his feeble cock. Ivy was surprised and saddened to see that Klaus pleasured himself the way he spoke, in stuttering strokes that stop started infernally. 

This was so much more fun with Harley watching and appreciating, but Klaus needed to be reeled in and kept in line with the program, he had joined willingly at first though a couple of days later he had attempted to flee, death was not an option so instead Ivy had given herself to him. It was worse than the sticky fumbling's that Pamela Isley only half remembered. She had come to him naked and aroused; he had stuttered and drooled as his fingers explored her. His cock was out of his pants within seconds and the very first time Ivy had gripped it he had ejaculated onto her stomach. She had kissed him then, long and slow making sure he would never leave again.

Now here they were again, Klaus was jittery and guilt ridden for mixing up a new batch of the deadly chemical. He needed to be pacified and Ivy was pleased to do it from a distance and it appeared that Klaus was happy for that too. The thick tendril stopped stroking her swollen clitoris and engorged moist labia and finally probed it's tip between them, then slowly eased into her stretching her wide as the tendril thickened the deeper it went. Ivy's head fell back and a long, low groan escaped her full lips as she was filled up.

Klaus's hand jerked quickly his legs kicking out in excitement at the spectacle before him. His cock throbbed in his grip its head a painful swollen purple mass as his fingers gripped tighter and tighter around the thin mass. His eyes flicked between Ivy's large breasts and the abomination that was now probing deep inside her. The tendril pulsed and shifted causing Ivy to writhe in pleasure, Klaus' grip loosened enough for him to begin a frantic back and forth, his foreskin painful with the sudden sharp motion. His own groan uttered forth followed by a girlish yelp as his load sputtered forth coating his thighs and hands in a weak, white sticky mess.

The slow clap from the doorway brought another yelp from Klaus, who upon seeing the figure jumped to his feet, stumbling over his trousers and underwear and falling in a heap to the ground. "Bravo, what a wonderful performance though your male partner could do with a bit more work." Carlos Cesar Constance said walking slowly into the room. 

Klaus curled into a ball and cried softly, while Ivy looked over in surprise at her new guest, though she allowed the tendril to continue its exploration she lowered her own hands from her breasts. "You're early." She stated in a husky tone.

Carlos came to a stop next to Klaus and dropped to his haunches. He wrinkled his nose at the sour smell that came from his once top researcher, "I told you, I warned you not to try and destroy Batch thirty five. If you had listened to me we both could be reaping the rewards, instead I had to teach you a lesson. A crazed act of defiance is met with time amongst the crazed. I only hope your short time in Arkham has brought some sense to you." Carlos could not tell if Klaus' shaking head was his agreement or simply due to the sobs that emanated from him. 

"And you..." Carlos stood up and turned to face Ivy. Was she expecting him to be shocked at her continued act of self-gratification or was she simply nonplussed by his early appearance, he approached her now something that he did in only four steps and again dropped to his haunches in front of her. "You should be getting Batch thirty five into position."

Ivy laughed and looked down at the man kneeling between her legs, "It has already been transported, and now awaiting the inevitable."

Carlos raised his eyebrows to this news, "Interesting and a remarkable feat," he reached out with one curious hand taking hold of the thick tendril. It was warm and pulsed with a knowing life; his stomach flip-flopped at the feel of it, of something so alive and aware. He had read the stories on Poison Ivy, he had even dipped his toe into some of the work that Doctor Woodrue had performed but never had he truly believed in the powers that Ivy had, until now. 

Ivy let out a dry laugh, seeing the realisation of just how powerful she really was cross his face. Was this not always the way with man? They were the dominate sex, what they say goes and no one especially a woman would be equal if not above them. Carlos was now realising he was not dominate here in Gotham City, here in the realm of Poison Ivy he was just another pitiful man.

Carlos' face reddened with anger and he tightened his hold on the tendril, with one swift yank he pulled it free of Ivy. The slick tendril flopped about in his hand like a snake and for a moment he stared at Ivy's sex, spread wide, dark and inviting. He let go of the tendril and it writhed upwards lost amongst the overhanging branches. Carlos felt himself hardening, wanting to know what she would feel like around his cock, how her nipples would taste in his mouth. He caught the wicked look in her eyes and cursed himself. He stood up, knowing full well that his erection would be noticeable through his trousers and not caring, "sort yourself out and meet me in the lab." He hissed and stormed out.

Carlos walked the laboratory, impressed that Batch #35 had been reproduced in such unclean circumstances and with such little machinery. "w-w-w-e finished up a w-w-week ago," a suitably cowed Klaus stuttered from the corner of the room. Carlos sniffed the air it was redolent with disinfectant and the moist, earthy smell of the arboretum. "Ivy w-w-wanted the place cleaned once w-w-we were done. Said the chemicals w-w-were hurting her p-p-plants." Carlos did not react to that interesting piece of knowledge, what edge he had lost moments before would come back in due time and it was throwaway bits of information like that that would put him back on top.

"Now, now Klaus don't bore Mr Constance with such trivia," Ivy purred in her southern tones as she joined the men in the laboratory. Carlos gave her a quick glance glad to see she had covered up with a unitard decorated with leaves though it still left little to the imagination, "I believe this is where I say something like," Ivy held her hands aloft, her smile wide "This is where the magic happens." 

"Tell me the plan again," Carlos said.

"Really, no trust in our relationship," Ivy replied and was met with an emotionless stare, "Have it your way. The fountain was delivered yesterday the main bulk of Batch thirty five is hidden near the top spout and will only be activated at ten O'clock. Before that the fountain will run as normal and the dry ice will keep the chemical cool enough as well as adding a sense of mysticism to the fountain."

Carlos turned to Klaus, "Once Batch thirty five is airborne will the dry ice affect it?" and Klaus shook his head wearily. "How far will it spread once it is airborne?"

Klaus spared a glance at Ivy, then responded "not far p-p-perhaps ten meters m-m-maybe a little further depending on the air c-c-conditioning," Carlos' face darkened at this news, "over thirty people will be infected p-p-perhaps more," Carlos was shaking his head rubbing at the dark shadow of stubble on his cheeks, "It m-m-means you can be there and w-w-watch from a safe d-d-distance," Klaus knew this would cheer up Carlos, the man was morbid that way.

Carlos looked up at that, his hand hiding his small smile for the time being. As he lowered his hand he willed the smile away too. "That is acceptable," he knew Wayne would be there, could he be present at the Son of Gotham's downfall, the thought excited him.



Gotham Town Hall,9:00pm

It was part of the lifestyle that Bruce dreaded. Black tie gala events were springing up in Gotham every week, help the poor, help the armed forces or help the conservation of this or that rain forest. They were becoming a blur, but Bruce went to them all mostly by force thanks to the ever helpful Alfred sending back the RSVP's or calling on his behalf. But Bruce knew he had to keep up the persona of Gotham's number one son and for the most part once he was at the event he was moved by what other Gothamites were trying to do.

Batman had a small part to play in that, people knew that someone was fighting for their city and they joined the fight the only way they knew how by putting their money and other people's money where their mouths were.

Tonight was one especially close to Bruce, though how he had missed the meetings, memos and emails from Wayne Enterprises who were funding the event concerned him a little bit. But the cause was a good one. The Gotham orphanage and young Offenders rehabilitation centre was something that Thomas Wayne had set up months before he died, now over twenty years later it was still going strong but in need of desperate funding thanks to the City's council cutting it's funding by over a third.

"Alfred I need a night off," Bruce had responded as he collapsed onto the plush settee as Alfred had told him of the tonight's event.

Alfred had politely placed the invite onto Bruce's chest "Unfortunately for you Bruce Wayne has already sent a RSVP."

Bruce opened one eye, "I did? Or you did?"

Alfred smiled, "All with your best interests in mind Master Bruce," Bruce groaned loudly, "If it helps Miss Kinkalow has called to say she would be present on the evening and would hate for you not to be there to accompany her."

Bruce spotted her now, a thin crystal cut champagne flute in one hand talking to a tall handsome man near a rather grand Gothic Fountain. Bruce smiled as he watched her, for the moment in no rush to get to her, enjoying the way she pretended to enjoy the gentleman's story it was the little tells that only Bruce seemed to notice, only when the man placed a hand on her upper arm did Bruce react.

He moved through the crowd collecting two champagne flutes as he went smiling politely and offering his own hello's to the other rich elite that had crowded into the hall this evening. He reached the couple in time to hear Selina say, "That's a lovely offer but I am here with someone and I would hate to break his heart."




The Batman: Downfall Ch. 05



"Samantha your glass is looking a little empty," Bruce offered one flute to Selina a beaming smile on his face as he did so, only faltering for a second when he recognised the man talking to her. "Mister Constance I am surprised to see you here."

Carlos wanted to laugh out loud at Bruce's attempt to gain the attention of the woman, so quick to fend off a better match for such a beauty than himself, though it was something that Carlos was used to. It was a shame that the woman would not now be taking him up on his offer, though perhaps the reward to Carlos would be that she would become one of the test subjects for batch #35 shortly. "I was in town dealing with insurance and architects." Now it was Carlos' turn to smile at the raised eyebrows of Bruce Wayne, "Of course you would not know the city has given the go ahead for a secondary plant a little further afield and less of an eyesore to be certain but encouraging news never the less."

Bruce could not believe what he was hearing, another chemical plant here in Gotham, had the mayor lost his mind or been offered something that would make him more pliant in signing away the City's future. "You know I will have to fight that don't you?"

Carlos nodded and took a small sip of his own Champagne, a poor vintage that tasted sour to his refined tastes, "That would be a pity, I looked at your proposal and was impressed, we would have made good business partners." Bruce's face reddened and his Jaw clenched with anger, "But it seems our agendas are different after all. Good evening Bruce, Miss Kinkalow." He turned and walked slowly and confidently away a small smile growing bigger with each step.

"If he thinks he can pollute this City again he has another thing coming," Bruce said.

Selina placed her free hand on his chest, feeling his heart beating fast beneath her touch and the fabric of his suit, "Easy tiger there is a time and a place for righteous indignation but this is not it." Bruce eyed Carlos as he stopped to shake hands with the mayor. "You are not even going to comment on my dress?"

Bruce turned his head begrudgingly and Selina half smiled as she felt his heart skip. Her black sequined dress was strapless her hair flowed in loose curls that sat on her slender and toned bare shoulders. "You look stunning," Bruce said truthfully before taking a long sip of champagne to lubricate his suddenly dry mouth. 

"You are not too shabby either," she replied back and regretfully removed her hand from his chest. "I am glad you made it this evening, it being a work night and all."

Bruce laughed gently, "I am allowed a night off from time to time plus I have a little help back home." Bruce motioned to his right ear and Selina knew that sitting just inside his earlobe was a small receiver no doubt linked to a transmitter that Alfred would have hold of. 

"Hello Bruce," A gruff voice said from behind and Bruce let his hand fall down as he turned.

"Commissioner Gordon I did not expect to see you here." Bruce took hold of the hand that was offered; he glanced to Gordon's left noticing the redhead next to him in a loud red dress. "It's good to see you again too Miss Gordon.

Gordon spoke as Barbara opened her mouth to talk, quickly overriding her to stop her repeating the scene at the restaurant. "I would not miss this for the world, that teenage rehabilitation centre is worth its weight in gold for all the good it does this city." 

"It's good to be seen again too," Barbara stepped forward and she heard her father take a sharp inhale of breath, "And I want to apologise for the restaurant that was stupid of me." The words came out easily thanks to time spent in front of a mirror repeating them until they sounded believable, it was a lie that would keep her father happy and maybe drop Bruce Wayne's guard enough for her to pry into his business a little more.

"No need to apologise I already forgot about that," Bruce replied and found he could not stop staring at Barbara Gordon, there was certainly something about her and not just how attractive she was it was almost as if they had spent more time around one another, a familiarity he could not for the moment place. Bruce came too at the polite cough besides him, "This is Samantha Kinkalow who I believe you have already met."

Barbara blushed, her palms went clammy and goose bumps ran up her arm, "I don't think so..."

Gordon gave a hearty laugh, "I think he means me Barb'." He held out his hand and was surprised when Samantha leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek, now it was his turn to blush.

"I never got chance to thank you and your men at the museum Commissioner." Selina said.

"I hear Batman played a part in your rescue didn't he?" Bruce offered trying not to let his feather's be too ruffled by the exclusion.

Barbara thought it was typical of someone like Bruce Wayne to go for the strong male and ignore the fact that other help had arrived long before Batman had gotten there. "And don't forget that Batgirl was there too, didn't she arrive before Batman dad?"

Gordon sighed at the mention of his two biggest headaches and instinctively rubbed his forehead, "From eyewitnesses she was there first, but let us not forget she should not have been there at all let alone Batman."

Selina laughed gently, "Either way it was Gotham Police Department that ended the raid so abruptly and saved my life as well as the diamond." She could see Bruce deflating next to her and it amused her, the redhead was all fire and clearly on the pro feminist roster what with the whole Batgirl spiel, if only she knew she stood toe to toe with someone who at one point dressed like a cat and Selina wondered what the little redheads take on that would be. 

Carlos had made it to the rear of the great hall he had done so in a slow manner not wanting to seem over eager in his escape from the centre of the room. He walked up the grand gold gilded stairway and stood on the landing, the cool night air blowing against his back in a stark contrast to the warmth that emanated from the over two hundred people below. He had reason to believe that Klaus' calculations were wrong, the people were packed in tight almost shoulder to shoulder the infection rate he now guessed would be double. He was congratulating himself on his rather keen intelligence when the big band that had taken up half the stage came to life with startling ferocity.

Carlos' jaw tightened and he ground his teeth as suddenly the guests parted the floor, the fountain, first lost amongst the crowd now took centre stage as the remaining guests began to dance slowly around it. Klaus had taken this into account and Carlos made a mental note to hurt the good professor for outthinking him.

Bruce had almost dropped his champagne flute and Selina had given out a slight cry as the music started suddenly. "This is where an old man departs," Gordon said raising his voice to be heard over the music, as he turned Barbara grabbed his arm and shook her head before leading him into a dance.

"Well if he can do it so can we," Selina said as she guided with practiced ease Bruce into a slow close dance.

The Batcave, 9:31pm

Deep beneath Wayne Manor Alfred Pennyworth sipped a late evening cup of Earl Grey tea he would probably be up most of the night anyway so the subtle hit of caffeine would be welcome. The computer had only one task and that was to decipher the images that Bruce had managed to get using the inbuilt camera of his Bat mask. Alfred closed his eyes listening to the soft whirring of the giant computer interspersed with the high pitched call of the Bats that lived deeper in the cave system. 

Alfred still lived in hope that one day all this would be behind him, that one day he would flip the switch that would shut down the entire system, open up the subterranean dam and let the cave flood with the waters of the underground lake and finally put an end to this misery. And to Alfred that is how he was living, in misery, watching the remaining Wayne going out night after night fighting criminals and far worse in an attempt to live up to Thomas Wayne's image of the saviour of Gotham City and night after night Alfred sat alone in Wayne manor praying to gods he no longer believed in that Bruce would not die.

Alfred forced his eyes open and shifted in his seat letting the blood flow again into one dead leg, those dark thoughts always made him wish for a drink of something warm and astringent, something that would numb his head as well as his taste buds. Nothing was to hand and if he had his way never would be, so instead he pushed his chair in closer to the terminal and started to work the best he could.

To the untrained eye the image of the whiteboard was simply that with nothing to be seen apart from some hastily written numbers and letters. The scraps of paper Bruce had picked up had come to nothing new only what was already known to them, the whiteboard was their last hope time was running out they both knew it. Alfred took control of the image from the computer, feeling more useful and also letting his brain focus on something other than what the future would perhaps one day hold. 

Alfred zoomed in on random parts of the board and leaned in trying to see what had been hastily wiped clean but no matter how much he squinted it was simply a washed out blur. Without looking down Alfred's fingers deftly tapped away at the keyboard, a blue filter dropped over the screen and Alfred quickly hit a red filter, his eye brows rising with surprise as part of an image appeared where before only a smeared mess could be seen.

"A canister," It was to be expected, how else were they going to transport the toxin. Now Alfred zoned out of the world around him as he went to work with more filters, a spectrograph and spectrometer. 

Slowly the board began to reveal its secrets. 

Gotham Town Hall, 9:40pm

"For a suave multi-millionaire you sure don't know how to dance," Selina giggled again as Bruce stumbled once more. Others around them smiled politely then exchanged small jokes just out of Bruce's range of hearing. 

'Sir,' The voice came through his ear as if Alfred was stood right next to him, Bruce's body went rigid and Selina looked at him questioningly, her nod was almost unnoticeable to all but Bruce. He leaned into Selina as if he were kissing her neck. "What is it Alfred?"

'Batch thirty five, it's somewhere in Gotham they shipped it only a few days ago in a fountain.' Bruce tried not to react and taking the lead moved Selina around so that he could look at the fountain that currently dominated the centre of the hall. "What sort of fountain?" Bruce asked though he already knew the answer, 'Early fifteen hundred's certainly of gothic design,' Bruce stood up straight looking around for Poison Ivy or even Harley Quinn but neither could be seen, yet there was Carlos Caesar Constance on the landing watching all below him. 

"Bruce what is it?" Selina could tell that he was agitated and suddenly alert, his muscles bunched beneath his suit.

"We need to leave," He took her hand and as nonchalant as possible started to leave the dance floor, "Something bad is about to happen," Bruce looked up again Constance had not moved his eyes clearly fixed on the fountain.

"Bruce, wait what about everyone else?"

Barbara shook her head she had watched Bruce Wayne nuzzle the neck of Samantha Kinkalow she had wanted to be disgusted but was more ashamed that she felt jealous of the woman. Barbara had played nice to keep her dad from having a stroke, she had dug a little deeper into Wayne Enterprise but found nothing linking him to any of the crime families, there was something not quite right with Bruce Wayne if only she could figure it out...the thought stopped as both Bruce and Samantha left the dance floor in a hurry a look of worry on Samantha's face. Barbara took a step back from her dad who looked at her with surprise, "sorry I need to go check something," she said quickly as she spun on her heels and fought through the overdressed bad dancers trying to keep track of Bruce Wayne.

Barbara gained ground by elbowing the last few couples out of her way, oblivious to their tutting waving a limp apology as she passed. Barbara caught sight of Samantha heading towards the exit her look of worry slipping into a look of wide eyed panic that made Barbara's stomach clench up. She looked quickly around for Bruce catching a brief glimpse of him as he pushed open a small side door in a corridor ducking into it without wasting a second to look around. Barbara sped forward to catch up.

"No Alfred send the boat, there is a sewer access point just beneath the building the roof may be under surveillance by Ivy." Bruce responded to Alfred's hurried question if the Batwing should be deployed to deliver the Bat suit. The clear contact lens in Bruce's right eye guided him with a tiny electrical map of the building that hovered before him he worked his bowtie loose as he went.

"Bruce!" The female voice shouted from behind, making him spin around half expecting to see Selina come running down the corridor.

"Miss Gordon can I help you?" He asked as calmly as possible, an unknown deadline was approaching and Batman's help was needed, but he could hardly ignore Barbara Gordon, she was too tenacious and would not be easily deflected by a little old Wayne charm.

She had called his name for no other reason than to slow him down she had no idea as to what she would say to him it was worse still now that he stood there calmly waiting for her. "You left in a hurry and I don't think the exit is down that way," she sounded like some stupid brat from the adventure books she had read as a girl.

"Keeping tabs on me Miss Gordon?" He replied and took note of the way she blushed. He had said it in jest but had clearly hit a mark, a little worrying. "If you must know I am trying to have a little privacy and there is a back door this way that the paparazzi do not know about."

'Sir, I am getting more information off the board' Alfred spoke loud and clear into his ear, 'there is a timer...set for...oh my! Sir it is set for ten o'clock tonight you have less than twenty minutes' 

Barbara took a step back when she saw Bruce tense up, his whole body swelling in size that alarmed her, something was not right here Bruce was agitated and Samantha terrified of something but what? She wanted to ask but instead she put on her most cheerful smile, "I would say I understand but being the police commissioners daughter I do not get a lot of attention off the paparazzi, I won't tell anyone you were here." She gave a conspiratorial wink as she took another step back, terrified that Bruce Wayne was about to make a grab for her and what? Kidnap her it sounded stupid but the man before her had changed and it scared her a little.

Bruce nodded, "Thank you Miss Gordon, have a pleasant evening," he turned and started to walk before his feelings got the better of him and made him turn around, "Why don't you buy your father a drink on me, I have an open tab at the bar, he could do with one right about now." And then turned and walked a little quicker, not waiting for Barbara's reply.

That struck Barbara as odd, the offer of a drink and the way he had said 'right about now' the tone was forceful and demanding. The clenching in her stomach only got worse, something bad was about to happen and somehow Bruce Wayne had something to do with it. Barbara ran down the corridor her mind screaming at her to get her father out of there, she stopped and pulled the door half open and caught her breath...what about everyone else!

Carlos tapped the railing in time with the music trying to look to the whole world that he was relaxed and enjoying himself and not about to bear witness to the release of a chemical agent that could be used in conflicts around the world in the near future if the batch had been properly manipulated by Klaus. He had watched Bruce leave the dance floor with the harlot, it was disappointing that Bruce would not be part of the experiment after all but there were many more cattle below him that were eager. He watched as the music ended and the guests applauded politely, the applause turning a little louder as Mayor Sebastian Garcia took to the stage waving like the impotent puppet that he was as he strode with fake confidence to the microphone stand. Above him a large ornate clock worked silently away, it was ten minutes to ten.

9:55pm

Gordon turned at the gentle tap on his shoulder, "Miss Kinkalow, have you gone and lost Bruce Wayne?" He said with a big smile beneath his moustache. He had noted as the Mayor had started to talk that Bruce had not taken his seat on the stage along with the two other elected officials and the current manager of the home.

Selina laughed a shrill, jagged sound that she cut short when others turned to look at her in annoyance or concern, "Something like that, he asked me to come get you actually," She could see the brow of the commissioner knitting together, the way his nostrils flared as he tried to detect just how much she had been drinking. She took hold of his upper arm as she smiled at him, realising a little too late that her grip was perhaps a little too firm.

"...Bruce Wayne," Sebastian Garcia announced and led the applause. He looked over to his left noticing the empty seat on the stage, "Bruce Wayne to the main stage please, Bruce Wayne to the main stage," He said into the microphone and smiled as a handful of guests laughed and started to call out Bruce's name. The clock above him began to chime and he watched as an odd mist flowed from the top of the fountain.

Selina looked up gasping as the mist quickly gathered above them, its release had been silent and startlingly rapid it gained a little height before spreading out the air conditioning blowing it wide before it began to fall onto the guests, "please come with me," She begged the commissioner who managed to pry his eyes free of the odd mist long enough to see the terror in the woman's eyes and nodded for her to lead the way.

Carlos wanted to smile and cheer with joy as the agent was released into the air the moment the clock struck ten o'clock, he had his doubts about Poison Ivy and her crazed little lover called Harley Quinn but they just kept on surprising him. The applause and calls for Bruce Wayne were quickly falling away as more and more people noticed the mist, a couple of people cried out and rightly so, though they did not really know why, as the mist, heavy with Batch #35 started to settle. Carlos guessed the distance to be little more than ten feet from the dispersal point, a quick count of heads told him that at least twenty people would be sufficiently doused in the agent to garner the effects.

People were crying out as the icy could chemical lighted on their skin, some were bent over coughing violently as they inhaled the toxin. Panic soon set in, the outer edges of the party were already starting to flee a couple here and there then a group of four then a larger group and soon everyone was screaming and rushing to get to an exit, all except a group near the fountain who stood still, even when knocked this way and that from people fleeing they remained motionless. Carlos watched one man get knocked to the floor he lay there for a moment then stood back up, his face a void of expression, his eyes glazed and empty.

10:05pm

Batman could hear the horrified cries as he ran down the corridor, he pushed the door open only to have it slammed shut by the stampede of people on the other side. Batman crouched and put his weight against the door pushing it open, feeling bodies bouncing off the wood as it opened further still, he sprung clear rolling across the ground before standing up. He raced against the tide of black suits and fancy dresses trying his best to make head way without injuring any one innocent. It did not take long before he was pushing harder still, people toppled backwards as he screamed for them to move out of his way. A black gloved hand dropped from the ceiling and he grabbed it and found himself being lifted from the ground onto the balcony above. "You," he said as he clambered over the railing.




The Batman: Downfall Ch. 05



Batgirl nodded, her mouth covered by the gas mask he had given her the night before, "I thought you could do with a little help." Batman was surprised to see her she had almost died the night before yet her she was ready to lend a hand again, whoever it was under that mask was made of tough stuff indeed and Bruce Wayne would dearly like to meet her. "I saw him leave moments before it happened."

Batman scanned the balcony, he could not see Carlos anywhere, looking down he could see the effects of batch #35 a group of people stood silently while friends, lovers, and wives tried to pull them away pleading and crying for them to listen. "Which way did you see Carlos go?" Batman asked.

"Who's Carlos? I meant Bruce Wayne, he left right before that mist came and he was in a serious hurry too. I think he's behind this."

Batman wanted to laugh but bit his tongue, now two people were paranoid about Bruce Wayne. His head spun for a moment and his heart skipped a couple of beats. He noted the red hair, the small freckle just below her right eye the same as Barbara Gordon's and he knew if she removed that mask that both Barbara Gordon and Batgirl's shade of lipstick would match. For a great detective he had missed the obvious but for Batman and Bruce Wayne to exist hiding in plain sight was the obvious thing to do. "Bruce Wayne is innocent in all this, Carlos Constance is behind Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn, this whole thing is a set up to test a new mind control drug." 

He watched her eyes widen in surprise then panic as her head flicked to the floor below them and to one man in particular who at this very moment stood motionless. "Go down there see what help they need, get them to Gotham General, a secure wing full lockdown we need to find a cure." Batman caught sight of a white suit just entering a lift at the further end of the mezzanine, "I'm going after Constance, if there is a cure he will know what it is or who has it." He raced off, letting Barbara go to her father rather than having her tagging along worrying.

Batgirl leapt from the balcony hardly feeling the heavy landing beneath her feet, she rushed to her silent and motionless father. She halted a few feet from him, she reached up and unclipped her gas mask dropping it to the floor, she had been worried to step any closer in case she became the same way but her concern far outweighed the worry. She raised one hand "Dad?" she said quietly, her emotions sending the word quivering. She forced her feet to move, taking two steps forward and noticing the woman next to her father her mind fleetingly wondering when Samantha Kinkalow had decided to come back. "Dad?" she said again more forcefully this time and pulled at his suit jacket. His response was the same as everyone around him, glazed eyes and a face void of any emotion. 

"Simone, Simone come on." The voice was loud and recognisable the mayor was dragging his wife across the ground, nothing more than dead weight in her state begging for her to move as he did so. 

Batgirl squeezed her father's arm and rushed over to the mayor. "Sir we have to get these people to Gotham General they have been exposed to a toxin." 

The mayor looked up from his wife, tears streaming down his face, "what...who the hell...you!" he let go of his wife's arm her body hitting the floor with a dull thump. "What have you and your crazy friend done to my wife?" he shouted accusingly.

"Us, we are trying to help Mayor Garcia. Batman is going after the real culprit." Batgirl bit back, her emotions over spilling as her tears did the same. "We need to get these people somewhere safe,"

Mayor Garcia was shaking his head mumbling to himself, "Batman, this is all Batman's fault and the rest of those costumed freaks."

Batgirl grabbed him and gave him a wicked shake his head flicking back once eliciting a gasp from the man, "Listen to me, this is down to someone very human called Carlos Constance he is the reason your wife and my fa...friend is like this." As she spoke Simone Garcia stood up, she blinked once and was still.

"Carlos Constance, Axis Chemicals Carlos Constance?" The mayor's mouth hung open as the words sunk in then closed shut his jaw clenching. He reached up wiping at his tear streaked face he swallowed hard and took a look at his wife, then at everyone around him. "Gotham General right," 

Batgirl nodded, "a secure ward, full lockdown."

"The secure ward on full lockdown," The mayor repeated and nodded, "But look at them what harm can they do, their just living statues." 

Batgirl shrugged, "There is a cure and he will bring it, that's all I know." She began to move off, wanting to stay with her father but being tugged after another man who right now was somewhere above her fighting to get a cure.

"How are we supposed to get them there, look at them?" The Mayor shouted, if the Batgirl had heard she made no attempt of acknowledging or responding. Sebastian Garcia looked around at the motionless figures and raised his hands in despair. "Great living statues, now how do I get you to walk single file to the exit?" He said it jokingly then gasped as suddenly the figures fell into line and walked single file towards the exit.

Gotham Town Hall Rooftop,

Carlos had wanted to stay to see if any residual toxin would affect others that had not fled the scene, but he had given himself five minutes to watch the main event for the evening before his phone had alerted him that it was time to go. Just as well really as he had entered the lift to the top floor and from there the roof he had caught sight of Gotham's guardian angel and his side kick only feet from where he had originally stood.

Now on the roof the night air was fresh against his dark complexion he could hear the sound of approaching sirens, a mix of police cars, ambulances and fire engines working together to mask the dull thud of approaching helicopter blades. Two lights up high were rapidly approaching, one would be his ride the other a police helicopter, he amused himself for the moment by trying to guess which was which. 

The yelp that escaped him was high pitched almost feminine as he was grabbed from behind and physically lifted into the air. Carlos' feet kicked the air as he struggled to get free of his assailant as he was rushed with sickening speed to the edge of the building. His feet touched the ledge of the roof for a moment as he was spun round, the air was choked from him as a strong hand grabbed his shirt at the front and lifted him once more carrying him the few inches clear of the roof top. Carlos screamed in terror at the drop beneath him. 

"The cure," Batman screamed in fury at the man he now held, the terror in his eyes a pleasing sight to Batman. He loosened his grip letting the man move perhaps an inch further down, "I cannot hold you forever,"

The look of terror dropped from the man's face suddenly the kicking and screaming going with it. Now Carlos smiled "Kill me and you will never have a cure," There was still fear in the man's eyes, the way he looked down at the street beneath him and up at Batman he was playing a dangerous game but had begun to realise that he perhaps had the upper hand. "Shall we play the game Caped Crusader, let me go and see if a cure mysteriously arrives or let me become a piece of sidewalk art and see how long it takes for a cure to ever be found," he gave a shrug the best he could, "make your move."

Batman let out a dark scream and for a moment Carlos felt the grip on him loosen and the fear was upon him again, the grip tightened and he was moving through the air swinging back onto the rooftop, the grip letting go sending him flying. He landed in a crumpled heap on the ground sharp gravel dug into his skin and cut him. Carlos turned around feeling the bruises that would soon appear on his arms and legs as he moved. He noted how ripped and dirty his suit was and tutted in disgust. "A wise decision on your half," he was jerked upwards as he spoke, his expensive shoes dragging in the gravel as Batman moved him slamming him up against a wall.

The fury had gone from Batman and the three words he spoke came out in a menacing whisper. "The cure, now." 

Carlos shrugged, "I wish I could, but I have other plans for the evening," His eyes flicked over the Batman's shoulder's and he cursed himself for being so stupid.

Batman loosened his grip and was turning when the high heeled foot kicked him hard in the back of one knee dropping him to the floor, "Surprise!" Harley Quinn shouted out and brought the oversized mallet swinging down letting it land with a satisfying thonk on the side of Batman's head sending him tumbling to the ground. She followed him closely and as he lifted his head again she took another swing knocking him across the roof a little more, "Well it ain't croquet but no one here cares."

When she swung a third time Batman caught it under his chest, one arm closing around the shaft and holding it in place and wrenched it from Harley Quinn's grip, who, taken by surprise tottered forward a couple of steps before tumbling over the prone figure of Batman. She got to her feet as quick as she could, turning as she heard Batman doing the same thing. She smiled wickedly at the blood that had seeped over one eye and over one half of his lower face. 

The helicopter swung in low and fast, its high beam light picking out everyone on the rooftop. Carlos waved it to come lower but instead a rope ladder was heaved out of one door and unravelled as it fell. Batman ran back as best he could seeing double of everything every time he blinked, reaching out with one hand to pull Carlos back and away from his escape. 

"No kiss?" Harley Quinn screeched as she jumped onto Batman's back her arms locking around his throat her legs around his waist. The added weight knocking Batman off balance and he fell to one knee looking up as the helicopter slid sideways and up, Carlos dangling from the rope ladder beneath it. "How romantic, just you, me and the moonlight." Harley began to hum a gentle tune. Batman stood up and pushed backwards before Harley Quinn had time to realise what he was doing, he smiled as he heard the tune end with a loud gasp as his full weight smashed her into the wall, her arms and legs flying loose.

He turned around letting Harley Quinn get to her feet, "I like it rough Bats, but not that rough," she was bent over her breath hitching as she took in air, "You fight dirty."

"Let the cops know when they find you up here," he reached into his belt pulling free a restraining coil he grabbed one of Harley's wrists and fed the loop around it, he grabbed her second wrist and noticed the small bottle she was holding a second too late. The aerosol exploded outwards directly into his face, his instincts batted it away and he took a few steps back wiping at his face. He could still move so whatever it was it had not been what had been released downstairs. "What was that?" He stormed up to Harley Quinn grabbing her by the throat.

She tried to laugh but the sound caught in her throat as she felt the hand close tight around it, so much for the love drug it seemed. She tried to speak but the grip was too much, finally he loosened it enough for her to take a gulp of air, she whispered something then. Batman's head tilting to one side, she whispered again this time his head came in closer, one more whisper and he was within in kissing distance, "Gotcha!" She whispered again and kissed him fully on the lips.

Try as he might Batman could not break the kiss, his body was tensed up as every muscle willed him to knock her away but he found himself leaning in, tasting a mix of his blood and her saliva as her tongue found its way into his open mouth. His hand loosened on her neck slipping down her front, finding one breast and cupping it firmly. He kicked her legs apart the kiss broke momentarily as she let out a gasp and a giggle. "Why Batman is that a batarang in your pocket or are you pleased to see me," 

It was at that point that a figure darted forward grabbing hold of Batman and pushing him away from Harley Quinn, his grip on her taking her with him as he stumbled before he let go and tripped over his own feet. Harley Quinn spun on her tip toes regaining her balance but Batgirls punch landing firmly on her cheek sent her wheeling once more and she finally fell hard on her backside. "What are you doing?" the question was aimed at Batman. His response was a growl and a clumsy haymaker swing that Batgirl deftly ducked and responded on instinct with a swift knee to his gut, doubling him over as he tottered forward. "Seriously?" she gasped out as she raised her arms defensively blocking her upper body and face from any potential attack.

"She's mine," Batman spat out rounding on Batgirl and swinging out with a punch that was slowed by her raised arm but with enough power to knock her sideways still. His next thrown punch she caught with her right arm pulling his arm taunt she aimed her punch at his elbow, the joint bending the wrong way with the force a sound of anguish that on anyone else would have made Batgirl smile. 

Batgirl let his hand go and took a few steps back to give her distance to manoeuvre if he continued this lunatic assault on her. "I don't know what she has done to you but snap out of it," She dared a quick look over at Harley Quinn who was now finally on her feet and looking a little dazed from the sucker punch she had received. 

"When you've quit playing with the Bat Bitch come get me if you can," Harley Quinn teased and quickly headed to the fire escape and, before descending blew a theatrical kiss towards Batman.

Batman's attention went from Batgirl and he turned to give chase, "Wait what are you doing?" She called out.

Batman turned his head, his mouth opened to reply but the words lodged, his head was heavy and all his thoughts were stuck on Harley Quinn, any other thought was trampled upon even the thoughts of, of...a cure, that word had power it sparked something deep inside him but not enough to forget Harley Quinn. He had to find her, he had to have her even if she resisted he would take her again and again until she gave in if that's what it took. He flew forward leaving behind Batgirl who shouted for him to stay and pleaded for answers.

He landed hard on the ground moments after leaving the roof top, but Harley Quinn was nowhere to be seen, he shouted her name in a rage but the only reply was the approaching sirens. He ran down the alleyway towards the main street bursting out onto the brightly lit pavement to gasps of surprise of the gathered crowds. One police car pulled up and two officers jumped out guns rising as they did so, "Batman, freeze." One shouted they had learnt the hard way about shooting first and asking questions afterwards from the museum, only this time they should not have heeded that advice.

Batman ran forward, one hand landing on the hot bonnet of the police car, he propelled himself forward feet first. Batman's outstretched right foot connected with the face of the shouting officer. His hat flying as he fell backwards, Batman continuing over him and landing on both feet as he continued his clueless chase of Harley Quinn.

Now the sirens were louder as police cars turned and gave chase, a helicopter high above sped overhead it's spot light streaking over him before they realised where he was and began turning in the night sky. By the time the helicopter had manoeuvred back round it had lost all trace of the Batman, "Dispatch we have lost sight of Batman," the pilot radioed in shaking his head, he had tried to track the Batman countless times and another missed opportunity was chalked up.

Batman slowed, his head ached with the thought of Harley Quinn, and he pressed his thumbs into his eye sockets gently at first then applied more pressure, harder and harder still until he began to scream in pain, yet the thought of Harley Quinn lingered still. "Looking for someone?" The southern drawl so silky in tone to Batman sounded heavy in a Brooklyn accent. For a moment he saw Harley Quinn before him, her blonde hair, died red at the tips, her skirt short and inviting and her corset loose and open for him, then his vision doubled and when it returned Poison Ivy stood before him. 

Ivy could not help but smile at the helpless and confused Bat, she had watched from a safe distance as he raced across the street attacking the poor police officer as he went. She had listened in her limousine to the audio of the events on the roof, giddy with excitement at the effects of the Lover's embrace toxin. Had she known its potent effects she would have rigged a camera on the roof to tape the mating habit of the Bat, but she had not and with the rather upsetting arrival of one Batgirl everything had come to an abrupt end...but the night was young and Harley Quinn was already on her way to the warehouse. A warehouse rigged with enough cameras that by the following morning Batman's cock and Harley Quinn's well used cunt would be front page and headline news of every newspaper around the globe. 

"Where is she?" Batman rasped out.

Ivy placed one hand on the side of her face a mock look of shock on her face, "Why you don't mean my pretty little Harley Quinn do you?" He grunted at her name and his body tensed. "My, oh my you have got a bad case of the love sick puppy," she continued her approach with little concern for her safety, with the Bat so confused he was clearly not concerned by Poison Ivy. 

Without warning Batman flew at her, Ivy barely had chance to raise another hand in defence before she felt his hand around her throat and for the second time that evening Batman slammed the body of a woman against a wall. "Where is she?" he screamed, blood and saliva flying from his mouth coating Ivy's face. 

He stood pressed up against pinning her whole body with his own. Ivy's heart pounded in her chest excitement had given way to fear with the ferocity of the attack. She could smell his sweat and the iron scent of his blood she could also feel the hard mass below his waist. "Why Batman," she swallowed her fear, "You seem to be very excitable." The grip tightened on her throat as he bared his teeth in a feral rage. With one hand she reached out and grabbed his free hand lifting it up and placing it firmly on one of her heavy breasts, her fear ebbing, excitement returning as well as curiosity. "Why settle for Harley Quinn when you can have her master."

Ivy tried not to tense as Batman leaned in, his hooded face now mere centimetres from her own, she could smell his blood and sweat, feel the heat rising from him in waves, hear his ragged heavy breathing. He sniffed at her neck before running his tongue across her pale green flesh raising goose bumps as it went. Ivy gave out a gasp as the hand on her breast tightened painfully, with a sound that was almost wet her unitard was pulled then ripped open. Batman's gloved hand found her now naked breast and squeezed again her nipple bulging upwards hard and prominent. 

"This is wrong," Batman muttered and suddenly his dropped and he staggered backwards both hands going to his head, "This....this is wrong," he looked at Ivy, noticed her ripped unitard how her heavy breasts jutted out from the torn fabric, his instincts screamed trap as they had done on the roof with Harley Quinn, "Where is she where's Harley Quinn?" he asked again, her face and name like an itch in his brain. His cock was a painful mass pushing against the tight fitting uniform, he needed release but he needed Harley Quinn more.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Ivy responded. The Batman moved quickly almost a blur to Ivy as he grabbed her arms and spun her around. Her face scraped up the wall of the building and she hissed with the sudden pain. Her legs were kicked apart and she felt Batman's hands on her backside tearing the fabric apart as if it were paper. One hand left her ample backside it returned moments later and she felt something else, thick and hard press against her. Ivy wiggled her bum feeling for the first time Batman's cock.




The Batman: Downfall Ch. 05



Batman knew it was wrong yet he knew that it was the only thing that felt right, he gripped his cock and nudged it against Ivy's labia, he pushed forward her dryness not deterring him as he began to fuck her. He sped up as she became more moist and receptive to him, his hands clenching her backside as he buried himself deeper with each thrust.

When Ivy had felt Batman's cock head nudging at her unprepared sex suddenly followed by him thrusting it into her, she had bitten down drawing blood as she bit her lower lip holding back her cry as his thick meat had stretched and filled her up. Though it did not take her long to become wet not with such a cock in her as Batman's. With each thrust he gave Ivy pushed back meeting him thrust for thrust.

"Where's Harley? Where's Harley?" Batman repeated time and time again as his cock thrust forward into Ivy, her feet now lifting from the ground with the force of his actions. His mantra turning into gibberish as he sped up faster and faster, Ivy's face scrapped against the wall as her arms gave way, she gave no fight as she felt him peaking. With one last thrust he let out an anguished cry and Ivy felt the warmth flood into her.

The cry had finally allowed Batgirl to locate her missing ally, she had tried to follow the cops but they were clueless and stretched thin trying to deal with the panic crowd outside of the hall. She moved down the fire escape as quickly as she could, her feet carrying her faster as she heard a female laugh below her. 

Batman staggered back from Ivy, who turned on shaky legs, her face marked and bleeding on one cheek and her lower lip. She could feel his seed oozing from her already he had unloaded more than either Ivy or Isley had ever had the satisfaction of receiving. Batman stood breathing deeply, his cock already wilting making him look pathetic in his suit. Ivy had to laugh at his state, if only she had brought the camera's here, the whole world could have watched The Batman take Ivy, she was a little jealous that Harley Quinn would soon be on the receiving end of Batman's cock.

Batgirl dropped the last eight feet landing perfectly and rushing quickly to Batman's side, she had chance to glance down and caught her own breath when she realised she was not seeing things. "What have you done to him?" She hissed at the ragged figure of Poison Ivy before flying at her.

"You are always interfering aren't you?" Ivy spat back and delivered a round house kick that sent the figure of Batgirl flying backwards into a pile of trash bags. "Sooner or later you and I will have to dance properly," Ivy could hear the sirens approaching fast, perhaps only a few blocks away now. Her limousine had pulled up to the entrance of the alleyway, the rear door opening automatically, "However for now Batgirl I will let you learn some more dance moves," she turned from the stricken girl and began to walk towards her car, she cast a glance at Batman, "until next time lover boy." She blew him a kiss and continued on her way.

"Where's Harley?" He responded groggily, he tried to move forward but fell to his knees.

Batgirl pulled herself up out of the stinking garbage and knelt down next to Batman feeling the ache in her ribs from Ivy's Kick. "We need to get you somewhere safe?"

Batman looked up at her with wide eyes, his voice high and panicky. "Where's Harley?" 

Batgirl had never heard such terror in a voice before or the look of utter incomprehension as to what was happening. She chanced a look up and watched the limousine pull away, the alleyway now open she did not want to look back down at the stricken Batman but had no choice, "Please I need your help the police will find us soon and I cannot carry you." Batman opened his mouth to speak, 'if he asks where Harley is again I am going to scream.' Batgirl thought. He must have seen the look on her face, his jaw clamped shut and he pointed to his wrist. 

Batgirl turned his wrist over, noticing the thin pad of a computer, keys smooth and flat she had time even now to admire the technology of The Batman. "Which one?" The buttons were overwhelming in their utter lack of markings "Which one?" she asked again. Batman had slipped into unconsciousness, she shook him the best she could but he failed to wake up. She had no choice now and started to press likely buttons. She could hear the suit working away and gave a surprised yelp as a set of spikes suddenly poked out of his knuckles before retracting. 

A screen she had not realised was there suddenly lit up, green on black lettering scrolled across the screen. She noticed co-ordinates, miles per hour and oil temperature, and sighed audibly as the co-ordinates began to shift. A police car sped past its blue and red lights illuminating the alleyway for a brief second, a deeper rumble was now fast approaching and Batman's wrist began to emit a low beep one that was speeding up as the sound grew closer.

Batgirl scrambled to her feet as a black car burst into the alleyway its headlights blinding her as it approached then slowed down. Batgirl slipped under Batman's arm and lifted him half crawling half walking with his bulk towards the awaiting car. The Bat mobile was something to behold, its plate armour thick, heavy and sleek as they got closer the canopy slid open. It took three attempts to get Batman into the car; he landed with a thud head first in the passenger seat. Batgirl climbed aboard into the driver's seat, the canopy closing again automatically. She straightened Batman up, worried that he would swallow his own tongue, or if he vomited, choke on that instead. He gave a mumble his eyes flickering open suddenly head twitching from side to side. "Where..." He started and Batgirl held her breath waiting for the inevitable but instead he caught himself and re-started, "Where am I?"

"In your car, but damn if I know how to drive this thing?" 

Batman, slumped forward and Batgirl shook him hard this time he sat up right, "Press that," he said and remained conscious for the few seconds it took for the girl to do as he had requested, when the engines fired up and the car sped forward under auto pilot he slumped forward again, his last conscious thought was of a petite lady, with white face paint and a body that he needed to feel.



The Batman: Downfall Ch. 06



The Streets of Gotham,

It took Barbara a few minutes to realise the screaming she could hear was coming from her. The Batmobile handled like a demented tank, it hardly took a turn on the steering wheel to get it to fly around tight turns and when her foot found the accelerator again it lurched forward with deep roar that made her bones ache. The road opened up as she approached the towering structure of a bridge, the Gotham River or maybe the River Liberty Barbara could not tell the difference lazily flowed beneath it. A small screen on the dashboard was directing her away from the city, which was no bad thing right about now, her destination eluded her but if The Batman had switched the system on then it was somewhere he would be safe, atleast she hoped so.

"Harley?" The slumped figure of The Batman mumbled, his eyes opening momentarily catching and holding Barbara's own green eyes. She let out a cry as a hand shot out and gripped her upper arm in a vice like grip "Harley?" he growled this time followed by a hiccup and a thin stream of vomit passed his lips, the grip loosened and Batman was still once more.

"I hope wherever we are going they can sort you out." Barbara muttered to herself. The Batmobile left the bridge and the remnants of the city quickly fell behind them and tree's young and ancient sprung up on either side of the road. Barbara tentatively nudged the pedal and the car lurched forward, her foot continued down and her back pressed against the seat as the car found more speed.

A few minutes later the dashboard began to beep, slow and languid followed by silence for a few seconds then the beep would sound again. Barbara counted the seconds in between. "Eighteen, nineteen, twenty..." The beep sounded and she began to recount this time only reaching eighteen, wherever they were going it was closing in fast. She reached over and shook the still figure next to her. There was no response, the beep sounded again this time a little louder. "Hey Batman, wake up." She shook him harder this time, his head flopping about. The beep sounded and this time it continued. She shouted and shook the figure as the beeps began to merge into one continuous sound.

Barbara stopped her feeble attempt at waking up The Batman and found herself peering into the darkness beyond the windscreen hoping that a neon sign would light the way. "Turn left," A groggy voice said almost making her jump. "Turn left, NOW" the shout gave her no time to think and she yanked the steering wheel left, her foot leaving the accelerator as the hulking machine turned. Her stomach flipped and beneath her gloves her knuckles had turned a stark white, the car shuddered to a halt facing down a hidden dirt track road. Barbara watched as Batman reached up and tried to press a glowing button on the dashboard, instinctively she pressed it for him, "Keep going," he said and fell back into his chair, "Keep going Harley,".

The tree's closed in rapidly and Barbara slowed down to compensate, the headlights hardly illuminated enough of the dirt track and she found herself turning into bends at the very last moment. At last the road became straight and the trees began to thin out. A pebbled shore could be seen in the moonlight and a lake rose and lapped at the shore directly ahead. Barbara lifted her foot from the accelerator slowing the car down with no place left to ride, but as she did her mouth fell open as a row of lights began to light up just beneath the surface of the lake, "What in the world?" she muttered as a dark black rectangular hole suddenly appeared at the end of the lights.

With hesitation she accelerated once more, without meaning to she closed her eyes as the Batmobile plunged into the water, only it did not. There was a sickening lurch as the nose dipped forward, water could be heard sloshing underneath and then the tires were running on a heavy surface. Barbara opened her eyes and stared in awe as the Batmobile rumbled on across a platform that was hidden just below the water's surface. The Dark hole loomed and the Batmobile lurched forward again, only this time it found a ramp and it rumbled down into a smooth walled and well lit tunnel, the only thing she could do now was follow it.

Boone Arboretum, 

Harley had made a quick exit from the warehouse the moment she had received word from Ivy to return home. Harley had been scared by just how quickly the toxin had gone to town on Batman, she had expected a few hours in between to gather her own thoughts, but when he started to kiss her back, oh boy! Harley did not think she could be so aroused by someone other than Ivy or Joker. The feel of his tongue in her mouth, his hands gripping her firmly and the way he pushed his groin against her, he had wanted Harley Quinn so badly and beneath Harley's white face paint she had blushed with the excitement of wanting Batman too.

Harley found Ivy languishing in a bed of leaves; it was a pleasing sight one that made her tingle all over, until she looked closer at her lover. Ivy's hair was not its usual sexy tangled curls, it was simply a mess and one of her checks had a nasty scrap that looked a terrible mix of blood red and ugly bruise black. Her unitard too had not fared well that evening it was filthy and ripped. One pale breast spilled out of one tear.

Ivy smiled lazily when she saw Harley in the doorway "Oh you are in for a treat with The Batman my dear," 

"What do you mean?" Harley approached slowly, apprehensively, "Did he do this to you?"

"All this and so much more," Her sex still buzzed with the excitement of her encounter with the lust crazed Batman. Ivy climbed from the bed and walked to Harley. She kissed her deep and probed her mouth with her tongue, hoping perhaps to get a taste of Batman again. Harley's kiss was more hesitant and when Ivy began to unbutton her white blouse she took a step back. "When he is through with you, I doubt the Joker's cock will ever be enough for you." 

Harley's eyes went wide, "You had sex with Batman, why the hell did you not just film that instead of making me go to that damn warehouse and wait." She swung an open palm at Ivy but Ivy caught it with ease placing it onto her exposed heavy green breast. 

"Because I had no idea it was going to happen, it surprised me as much as it did him I think." Ivy responded, "The drug works, he will be yours and then the footage will belong to the world and Batman will be nevermore." She leaned in kissing Ivy deeply still aroused by her encounter and wanting nothing more than to let it continue. This time Harley let Ivy finish undoing her top, her see thru bra unclipped and was pulled off with ease. Ivy looked at her lover's half naked body, the way her face paint finished on the oval of her face, the rest of her body unmarked by her psychotic mind. A freckle here and there just above her high delicate breasts that Ivy now took gentle hold of, feeling the warmth in her hands. 

Ivy suddenly pushed Harley backwards who in turn stumbled then fell landing hard on her backside, she opened her mouth to complain but Ivy was already straddling her moving up her waist, past her exposed chest stopping with her sex resting beneath her chin. "I have something for you," Ivy said huskily and ripped the crotch of her unitard apart. Harley watched as Ivy lifted herself up and caught the sight of her wet, swollen sex and the thin film of cum that was seeping from between her labia before Ivy lowered herself onto Harley's waiting mouth.

Constance could not help but laugh and smile at the newsfeed, watching the human guinea pigs stumbling from the town hall, glass eyed and susceptible to the simplest suggestion. The toxin had worked well and all prospective buyers were now seeing it working on humans. Already he had received emails of congratulations and requests for further details and even simple straight out bids on an auction that had yet to begin. There was perhaps one sticking point with one or two of the bigger players, the question of a cure.

The cure was never going to be administered even if there was a viable one, so it would lose him perhaps one or two clients with a conscious it was something he could live with. No his bigger worry was the threat of The Batman, he had known Carlos was behind the attack and not Poison Ivy he would be coming for him now, he needed the good Professor Cannon at his side, a human shield to keep Batman at bay, atleast for a few days.

Carlos spared a glance as the door to Ivy's private room opened and the half-dressed figure of Harley Quinn stepped out. He watched with mild interest as the woman slipped her blouse back on, jiggling her breasts in his direction before buttoning the top back up, somewhere under all that make up was an attractive woman, certainly her breasts were smaller than Carlos would normally go for, but there was certainly something about her that Carlos found interesting.

"I don't get it?" Harley said. And Carlos grimaced at the nasal accent, his semi hard cock losing some of its interest in the woman.

Constance turned back to the television, "And what don't you get?" he asked.

Harley pointed to the screen, "So their zombie's, oh scary. Mister J has a dozen clowns that dress up and do a better impression than those guys."

"They are not just zombie's my dear," Ivy replied as she sauntered in, her ripped and dirty unitard now replaced her hair though was still a frizzy mess and twin blooms of high colour were on her cheeks, "They are controllable zombie's. Imagine a riot getting sprayed by Batch Thirty five, with one simple request 'Return home' the riot is quelled no one injured no one killed."

Carlos smiled and gave a curt nod but then waved one raised finger back and forth "A possible noble cause for a tin pot dictator looking for abject control, but think bigger," Constance goaded.

Poison Ivy planted a soft kiss on Harley's cheek then walked over to Constance, "Polling station perhaps, a quick burst of Thirty Five and 'vote for fellow X'," Constance nodded then pointed up, "wholesale murder, a legion of followers willing to do your evil bidding 'kill my competitor'," Constance pointed up again, "Kill the president." 

At this Constance clapped, "Very good Ivy you know how to think big and with a cure the drug is eradicated and no trace left just the poor victims."

"If the cure is administered in time that is," Ivy said leaning in and glowering, "What happens if it is not?" Cannon had already spilled the beans during one of their sessions, the cure had been trialled and failed it would take time to find a viable one. Ivy had been played and would be left a scapegoat for the death of over twenty people including the police commissioner and the wife of Gotham's Mayor.

"What does your government call it, ah yes, plausible deniability. With the host dead there would be lots of questions but no answers." Batch #32 was the miracle toxin for the new age of terrorism and everyone was willing to buy. "But I assure you in four days' time the cure will be administered and those in Gotham general will be back to normal." Constance looked about the room, "Which leads me to my question, where is the good doctor?" 

Ivy knew Constance was set to run, the little run in he had with Batman had scared him more than he was willing to let on. And if he had Klaus then Ivy was no longer needed, oh how she disliked being the scapegoat of weak men, "Somewhere safe."

"His skill is needed in my laboratory if we are to get the cure manufactured on time," He tried to sound calm but the fact was this woman was speaking down to him. She would learn soon that such insults were punishable. As she walked slowly round him he refused to turn to look at her.

"He can work on the cure here, under my watchful eye." Ivy retorted, Constance opened his mouth to speak then froze as he felt a long tendril quickly wrap around his throat, a slight squeeze letting him know he was held fast, "You did not expect us to hand over our only leverage so easily did you Constance." Constance snorted a laugh, "The doctor stays with me, run your tests, get your data and when it is time give the word, and the cure will be made." She could see he was in a catch 22, admit there was no cure and be killed where he stood or play along and try and wriggle free, to be on the safe side Ivy had a backup plan.

Constance raised a hand to his throat and tried to squeeze a finger between his neck and the tendril with no luck, "Very well," The tendril loosened slightly, "Klaus stays here, for now" A simple glance from Ivy and the tendril uncurled and slipped away with a rustle of leaves from up high, "You know where to find me." Constance said rubbing at his neck with a silk handkerchief.

"Do we though?" Ivy said and tapped at her full lips with a one slender index finger, "I would feel better if you were not totally alone," She walked back to Harley and rested one hand on her slender shoulder.

Constance uttered a bark of a laugh, "You cannot be serious! I am not having your psychotic girlfriend as my baby sitter."

Harley nodded in agreement, "I am not wiping that Latino ass for nobody Ivy." Constance gave her a vicious stare in return.

"Stay calm my dear," she turned her attention back to Constance, "Consider it a trade for the time being, a show of good will between both parties. You have come with no bodyguards Carlos if The Batman comes for you having Harley close by will have its own wonderful results." She gave Harley a wink and smiled as she saw the surprised look on the young woman's face turn to understanding.

Constance waved dismissively with one hand, "fine so be it."

The Bat Cave,

Alfred had known something was wrong when the batmobile had been called. Within the Bat cave a small alarm had sounded that brought Alfred running. He had waited patiently and also a little worried as his attempt to contact Master Bruce in the batmobile had proven fruitless, whoever was driving was not Batman worse still they were heading this way. The only thing that had allayed his fear was that the guidance system had been triggered something that only Batman and Alfred could do. Had it been anyone of a nefarious persuasion driving, then the GPS would have helped them take an alarming swim in the Atlantic.

Still when the Batmobile arrived into the cave he remained in the shadows as was protocol, the smith and Wesson at his side was loaded and the self-destruct sequence was only a voice command away if needs be. The canopy to the car opened and a slim figure clambered out, Alfred went to step forward, the cape and cowl instinctively making him think of Bruce but he stopped himself as he caught sight of the red hair the billowed out from the back.

Barbara raced round to the passenger side, "Help," she called out as she climbed up and reached into the canopy. Batman's weight was too much for Barbara all on her own, "Please help, something's wrong with him." She looked about the cave, she could see metal structures standing erect on platforms, bridges interlocking different levels but all of it in the dark, if Batman really did now work on his own they were screwed. Yet she saw movement near the closest structure, "Please, help me." Barbara pleaded.

Alfred could see the girl struggling, her pleas pulled at his heart and he struggled to remain still as his internal conflict waged on. When she finally looked his way and pleaded it was more than he could take, he slipped the gun into his jacket pocket and strode forward, "Activate." He commanded.

Barbara was blinded by the sudden light that erupted around her, she stumbled back from the car hands going up to her eyes as the cave illuminated. "Where is he?" A man had appeared striding across a bridge that connected the two platforms, her mind raced as the man walked past, he looked familiar but how? "What happened?" he asked as he struggled to pull Batman free.

Barbara joined him, shouldering past him to reach in and grab Batman's belt heaving him up. "Ivy did something at the town hall, people are frozen." They lifted Batman bodily from the vehicle, "I got to the roof and Harley Quinn and he were, well kissing." The man lost his grip as his head whipped round in surprise. "I know crazy, but that's not the worst part."

She recounted the rest of her story as they carried Batman to a small medical area. Barbara had told how she had given chase first to Harley Quinn then after Batman when she realised something was wrong with him. When it got to the part where she finally found Batman, she felt her cheeks redden as she told the man what exactly he and Poison Ivy were up to. "Impossible!" the man uttered once.

Barbara felt wounded at that simple throw away response, it made her feel like a child again. "I know what I saw." She responded firmly.

Their eyes locked as Alfred searched her face, "I believe you. God knows I should not but I do." They laid Batman down on small metal bed and quickly he removed Batman's gloves finding a vein and quickly inserting a drip. The mask was caked in blood, a dent ran along one side of the mask, it had been hit and hit hard. The size of the wound beneath though could not be guessed at yet Alfred hesitated at removing the mask in the presence of the stranger even though he knew her to be Batgirl.

"He keeps saying Harley's name too, over and over." Barbara added, as she took a step back from the bed, letting the man do his job. The man she had finally realised was Alfred Pennyworth the Butler to the Wayne family. She had visited Wayne Manor as a child with her father a few times, he had aged but his eye's still glinted as they did when she was ten years old and she knew his effortless smile would make her own smile shine just as it did back then. 

"Concussion maybe, but that would not explain his other behaviour," Alfred responded and finally decided that he had wasted enough time. Barbara knew who would be visible when the mask came away but it was still a shock when the blooded face of Bruce Wayne finally appeared. "Pass me the suture set please," Alfred asked as he began to clean the wound, some small relief filling him at the effectiveness of the graphite and Kevlar lined mask at sustaining most of the damage. He stood straight as the girl failed to move, "Please, that small tray just there bring it here." She nodded and came to life getting the tray and walking it slowly over Alfred offered her a smile in gratitude as he began to thread a needle.

It was a long hour before Bruce woke up, within that time Alfred and Batgirl had hardly spoken, his attempt at getting her to remove her own mask had ended in failure and her own questions on Bruce Wayne and Batman were met with tight short answers or no answers at all, both parties finally falling silent when Alfred offered to make them tea. They both drank in silence until from the bed they heard a groan followed by "Harley? Harley?" They both moved quickly to his side, Barbara looking at Alfred as if to say 'see, told you so.'

"Master Bruce, it's me Alfred you are home now." Alfred said checking the small box that offered real time heart monitor and blood pressure readout's. Bruce's eyes fluttered open then closed again, the question came again. "No sir it's Alfred, you are home."

"Alfred?" Bruce mumbled, he tried to sit up but his body ached from hairline to toenail and exhaustion flooded every muscle, "my head?"

"A nasty bump and cut sir, already sutured up, the graphite and Kevlar in the cowl took most of the trauma though."

Bruce shook his head, "No Alfred, inside my head feels like it is on fire." Alfred looked up worryingly at Batgirl. "Something's not right Harley, they did something to me." The name slip had both of them worried now. "I need to sit up." Bruce did not wait for any response but began a very hard struggle to get up in the end Alfred helping out as did Batgirl. Bruce smiled at seeing her masked face. "I guess my secret is out."




The Batman: Downfall Ch. 06



"Well sir you are the one who keeps bringing girls here not me." The levity broke the feeling of dread that hung over them. "Unfortunately Miss Batgirl here is not so forthcoming with her own identity."

Bruce nodded and winced, his head buzzed and his brain itched a name floated constantly to the surface refusing to go, what was worse the name was making him tense and aroused. He bit his tongue, the pain offering respite. "You are among friends here, why don't you take the mask off Barbara."

Barbara gasped and took a step back, "how did you..." the words trailed off as she came to terms with the idea that someone had figured her out. Finally she nodded and worked her own mask loose, she sighed with relief as the itchy material came away from her skin and she rubbed at her face. 

Alfred gave a good natured laugh, "Well I never, Barbara Gordon."

"When did you figure it out?" She asked of Bruce.

"Only tonight, it was your belief and Batgirl's belief that Bruce Wayne was the kingpin of the Gotham Underworld that finally gave it away, that and the red hair Harley." Bruce caught himself and looked at Alfred, "That's a little concerning Alfred," Bruce had to think of Alfred's name before saying it, every inch of his being wanted to scream Harley Quinn.

Alfred nodded in agreement, "I took the liberty of drawing some blood samples and the system is running a toxin screening as we speak."

"You don't seem as bad as you did before," Barbara added.

"Apparently so, I have more control of myself, though she is in my head still. Before, it was like being under hypnosis but being fully aware of your actions, all I wanted was her, it was...overwhelming. You need to know it was not me attacking you." Bruce could remember it all it was a bad dream that refused to drift away as one fully woke up. The kiss had started it and had Barbara not turned up he knew that he would have gone further with Harley Quinn that was the reason he had given chase. Poison Ivy was collateral damage of sorts. She had given him something that, at that moment, he had an overwhelming need for. Never again he promised himself, but how he longed for Harley Quinn even now scared him.

"So what do we do now?" Barbara asked.

The answer was simple, tell her everything.

Bruce and Alfred started with the attack on the Axis Chemical plant, followed by the visit to Porto Areta and Bruce's run in with Carlos Cesar Constance. Alfred walked Barbara through the trace sample Batman had collected at the museum and how it had led them finally to the old offices of Doctor Woodrue and how the evidence there had led Alfred to the startling realisation of the attack.

"But what is Batch Thirty two, that's the one thing you are not telling me, why?" Both men failed to answer, "My dad is part of this now, he was there, whatever this is, is in his system affecting him, I need to know." 

Bruce nodded to Alfred, "If you would like to take a seat here Miss Gordon I will bring the files up." While Barbara read Bruce found his feet and cautiously made his way around the cave to another terminal. He sat down heavily and switched a monitor on moments later the Gotham News channels live feed filled the screen. Alfred joined him sparing a glance at Barbara Gordon as the misery of what Batch #32 was appeared on her screen. He placed a bone china cup next to Bruce Wayne, "Reports are saying that twenty five people have been affected, the good news is the mayor seems to have followed your request and has had them moved to Gotham General under tight security."

Bruce watched an early recorded video, it was slightly blurry and moved constantly, clearly taken on a camera phone, but it was clear enough to see well-dressed guests walking like zombies to the waiting ambulances. He hit pause, though the image was poor he could make out Selina Kyle still. "I told her to run Alfred, why did she go back?"

"You always said that she had more good in her than bad sir, perhaps this proves it somewhat."

The sob from behind them made them turn, Bruce wanted to join her, he knew what the toxin was capable of and one person he cared deeply for was now in the same position as Barbara's father. "We have four days to find Klaus Cannon and the cure. Then we go after the rest of them." Bruce said firmly.

Rosa's Apartment,

Alberto Falcone watched with mild amusement as two of his father's men tore the tiny apartment apart. Carmine Falcone was outside in his town car unwilling to get his hands dirty with the hunt for Harvey Bullock. "There's nothing here," one of the thugs, big, with a nasty scar running almost right round his thick bald skull said as he dumped a dirty old coffee table on its head.

"Well try looking instead of tearing the place up." Alberto responded, he was a small man frail and thin at the best of times but next to these two brutes he was almost microscopic. The bald thug flipped Alberto the finger and marched out of the apartment, the other thug followed close behind. Alberto shook his head, he was the son of Carmine Falcone, the biggest meanest crime boss in Gotham yet that got him zero respect, so much so that thugs could flip him the finger and not worry about finding that finger cut off and shoved up their asses by Carmine.

Alberto sighed and gently closed the door to the apartment with the heel of one expensive Italian shoed foot. It had been a mess before they arrived, it was even more of a mess now but he still went about his business. Harvey was a big man so Alberto started in the kitchen, what food was left in the refrigerator was going off and he quickly closed it holding a silk handkerchief to his nose to try and block out the smell. He noticed the plates in the sink, two of them he ran his finger across one and felt the thick congealed grease. He quickly wiped the grease from his thin finger with the handkerchief. There was a scratched glass, empty glass close by which he picked up noticing a brown dry mess at the bottom and sniffed, the smell of Whiskey lingered.

The bedroom drawers had been tossed out and Alberto kicked weakly at what little underwear and female garments lay on the floor. He knelt down and even though he was alone he looked about guiltily as he reached down and picked up a skimpy pair of panties, hot pink in colour and shoved them into his coat pocket. As he stood back up he caught sight of a pair of men's underwear and a vest, both large in size and in need of a desperate clean.

Back in the living room he could hear voices and heavy footsteps approaching. He walked over to the only half descent piece of furniture in the apartment an old French dresser on top of which sat a nifty digital phone, clearly stolen judging by the rest of the place he was surprised to see that it was still connected to a working phone line.

Carmine Falcone barged into the apartment just as Alberto, smiling to himself placed the receiver back onto its charging base. "That little street punk lied to us," Carmine Fumed as he looked about the apartment at nothing in particular, "Go find him and make sure he loses an eyeball."

"He didn't lie to us dad, Bullocks gone is all." Alberto said stepping over broken picture frames and cheap trinkets. "He was here alright."

Carmine stared at his two thugs, who shrugged with surprise, "You told me there was no trace of him."

"Two plates in the sink, greasy food residue on them, and a glass that stinks like whiskey" Alberto counted off on his fingers as he spoke, "Men's underwear in the bedroom, large I might add. And lastly," he motioned to the phone behind him, "Last call was to the train station, no idea where to but someone got on a train."

"Fuck!" Carmine spat and kicked out at an overturned chair sending it tumbling across the room, "that cocksucker has left town."

The bald thug spoke up trying to get back on his boss's good side, "We'll go down to the station, find out where he's going."

Carmine looked at the thug and laughed in his face then turned to his son, "See what I got to work with here, tweedle dum and tweedle dee."

Alberto smiled at the thugs, enjoying the way they squirmed under the gaze of their boss. Something that Alberto would be one day, "It was Harvey's girl who got on the train, he's keeping her out of harm's way. That means he is staying in town, unfinished business perhaps." Alberto did not want to give his dad the chance to issue new orders, "Leave it to me dad, I'll find him and bring him in dead or alive."

Carmine looked at him with surprise, his Romanesque nose flaring as if he had smelt something peculiar. He started to shake his head then stopped, "Okay, sure. You two wise guys are back to shaking down small time hoodlums, as for you." Carmine took hold of his son by the shoulders trying not to wince at the feel of the frail body beneath, the boy took after his mother in nearly every way which was such a pity, "Find Harvey, kill Harvey and bring me his fucking head in a box." The great thing with the plan Carmine thought was that if Alberto got killed it was no great lose.

The Bat Cave,

The mood in the Bat cave had turned sombre, the blood tests had come back negative any toxin that may have been used on Bruce had, it seemed, dissipated or worse still currently untraceable. His brain he told Alfred and Barbara still itched and it took a huge amount of will power to stop saying Harley's name. He made a mental note never to tell them that he felt in a constant state of arousal and all for Harley Quinn.

"Sir if I could suggest perhaps using the CAT scan to perhaps see if there is anything that may have been altered." Alfred said, part of him wondering if perhaps some version batch #32 was somehow in Bruce Wayne's system and even now working its vile magic on his brain. 

Bruce nodded in agreement and Barbara yawned. Bruce checked the time it was almost dawn and she had not once rushed to see her father. "I think it's time you took a break from all this," he said and she shook her head, "It's not a request Barbara you need to sleep and you need to see your dad." 

"I'm no good to him right now, we need to figure out where that doctor is holed up and get him working on a cure."

"You are no good to us burnt out and worried either." Bruce replied quickly back, "Go see him then get some sleep if you can." Reluctantly Barbara nodded in agreement, "Though I think a change of clothes would be a good idea." Barbara's brow furrowed then looked down suddenly aware that apart from her mask she still wore her Batgirl outfit. "Alfred, I'll get the Scanner warmed up can you show Miss Gordon upstairs, check Dick's room as well, there may be something she can wear."

Alfred had managed to find a rather dour grey looking tracksuit that was perhaps a size too big for Barbara Gordon but she accepted it gracefully enough. With her Batgirl outfit placed inside an old duffel bag she walked with Alfred to the large wide double doors that provided the grandest entrance and exit to Wayne Manor. "If you like Miss Gordon I could drive you to Gotham General," Alfred offered.

"Thank you Alfred, but I think the press would have a field day if I step out of Bruce Wayne's chauffer driven limousine." The taxi she had ordered pulled up, she waved at the driver who responded with a loud early morning twin honk of his horn, she began to walk down the stone steps then stopped, "What if there was no drug?" she asked and Alfred looked at her quizzically, "What if the blood test and the CAT scan comes back negative because there was no toxin? What if what happened last night was...human nature?"

Alfred straightened up as he responded, "I have known Bruce Wayne his entire life, what happened last night was not Bruce Wayne," he took two steps down to join Barbara Gordon, "Everything you see in the magazines and read in the Newspapers of the cocky Billionaire Playboy is an act, what he does every night on those streets, that's the real Bruce Wayne. Do you know how many of those women he is photographed with get to see the inside of Wayne Manor?" Barbara shook her head, Alfred held up one hand fingers spread wide then closed them into a fist, "Not one of them, they are just happy to have a picture and be in the limelight for fifteen minutes. If you ask me if I think what happened was nothing more than hormones and wish fulfilment then the answer is no." Alfred hoped that he sounded more certain of this fact than how he actually felt.

Gotham General,

She hesitated at the revolving doors to Gotham General the news crews out front paid no attention to her, she looked like hell so to the reporters she was probably some over worked nurse not worthy of their attention. Her hesitation came from not wanting to see her dad the way she had seen him last night, but what choice did she have. Jim Gordon had kept her away from seeing her mom during her last week alive in the hopes of saving her from some pain. Little did he know that he had caused far worse pain, "suck it up Barb'" She muttered to herself and with a deep breath walked through the revolving doors.

Barbara had trouble the moment she entered the secure ward, she found herself surrounded by police all demanding ID, she fumbled in the duffel bag, aware that at any moment her Batgirl suit could drop out leaving her with even more explaining to do. "Miss you will have to leave," She felt a heavy hand on her shoulder.

"Just wait will you I have my driver's license here somewhere," she responded, looking up at the police officer who seeing the look in her eyes took his hand off her immediately, "just give me a minute will you," she said in the calmest tone she had.

"It's okay officer I can vouch for Miss Gordon," Sebastian Garcia looked half the man he was the night before, he still wore his tuxedo but it was now wrinkled and shabby, his coffered hair was in disarray from constantly running his hands through it and no doubt pulling at it in despair. "I sent officers to your apartment but you weren't there."

"I was at a friend's, we left the party early," she replied as the Mayor walked her down the corridor. The police presence tailed off the further in they went, no doubt the nurses and doctors had given them enough dirty looks to make them aware they were encroaching on their territory. The stopped near a set of double doors, two officers with snub nosed MP5s and body armour stood watch, "I have to warn you, I am not sure what you've seen or heard but...well..." Sebastian faltered what else could he say? even he was not too sure on what was happening. He pushed one door open and led Barbara in.

A glass partition separated them from the patients on the other side, on their side of the glass husbands and wives milled about as doctors asked medical history questions while others looked on weeping quietly. The other side of the glass was surreal to Barbara, many of the patients were standing, doctors and nurses busying around them, she watched as an elderly man was jabbed with a needle, not flinching once. She read the nurses lips as she thanked the man and told him to lie down, without hesitation the action was done and a doctor made a quick note of it. "Whatever you ask them to do they do, but ask them a question, their name, age, you get nothing no response," Sebastian said his eyes on his wife who lay on her back looking up at the ceiling unblinking. "It's like they are not there."

The woman that had arrived at the party with Bruce Wayne, Samantha Kinkalow stood facing one wall, the rear of her gown loose and her backside exposed, she frowned at seeing her in such a state surrounded by so many men yet not one of them looked her way, they stared ahead unblinking. 

Barbara found her father next, his hair still neat and trim, but his dinner suit was gone replaced with an unsightly hospital gown, a nurse was speaking to him and he was responding with motions, a hand went up then down, he lifted one leg, lowered it then began hopping on the other. The nurse smirked and the Doctor covered his mouth to laugh, another doctor called over to them and they both stopped their little game. A tear rolled down Barbara's cheek, "Why would someone do this?" She asked out loud.

"Who knows but we have men on the ground searching for whoever did this," Sebastian said, he had already been given a name one that had shocked him to hear, though that name had yet to make it to the Gotham Police. Barbara had no reason to keep questioning the Mayor, she knew that he had Carlos' name he had probably spent most of the night refusing to give the name away to reporters and the confidentiality had stuck inside the corridors of the hospital in case anyone was to hear. "We will find out how to cure whatever this is I assure Barbara. I need to head home sort stuff out do you need a lift?" 

Barbara shook her head, "I think I might stay awhile longer." 

"I understand, but if you need anything call my office and they will put you right through to me." Sebastian said and got a single nod in response he spared one more look at his wife then headed off the ward.

Gotham General, lower parking lot

Sebastian Garcia stepped out of the lift on the lower floor; his limousine was parked up near the mortuary entrance and out of sight of any prying reporter. He climbed in and told his driver to head home, as it pulled away Sebastian buried his head into his hands once more, he had no more tears to cry all the anger he was feeling had overpowered all his other emotions. 

The Garcia's had not taken up the offer of the Mayor's mansion on the outskirts of the city instead Sebastian had opted for the biggest Apartment they could find. He had said in an interview how could he be the Mayor of Gotham City if he did not live within its beating heart, the voters had lapped it up, he was one of them, they simply ignored the fact that many of them lived in squalor while he lived the life of luxury 

His limousine pulled into the underground garage, no surprise that it took a little longer as usual as the private security guard tried his best to clear a path through the throng of reporters who had set up shop outside the private apartments. In the lobby Sebastian found his personal assistant waiting for him arms laden with paperwork and a laptop tucked under one arm, "Carl take the day off all that crap can wait until tomorrow," Sebastian waved off his assistant as he headed towards the penthouse lift.

The lift sped upwards directly to the penthouse, the doors slid open and the sound of opera music filled the great expanse of the Apartment. Sebastian walked through the rooms, eyes roaming this way and that, finally landing on the only other current occupant of the apartment.

Carlos Cesar Constance sat in the main living room a cup of coffee in one hand his other hand swaying to and fro with the music, "Mayor Garcia come join me for a cup of coffee,"

Sebastian stormed forward and grabbed Constance by the lapels of his dark suit pulling him viciously from his chair the coffee cup flying from his grasp and shattering as it landed on the marble floor. "You son of a bitch what have you done to my wife?" he screamed into his Constance's face.

His anger flushed from him as he felt the cool, sharp blade of a knife slide effortlessly across his throat, a slender female hand held the letter opener against his Adam's apple. "That's not how we treat voters Mister Mayor," Harley Quinn said softly into his ear.

"I warned you to keep your wife next to you," Constance reached up and grabbed Sebastian's wrist twisting them forcefully and making him relinquish his grip, "Remember? I said anyone close to you will be safe, you did not heed my warning."

Harley lowered the blade and stepped backwards patting the Mayor of Gotham city on his backside. Sebastian rubbed at his wrists, "Get the cure and administer it the trial is over."




The Batman: Downfall Ch. 06



"That is not going to happen Sebastian so do not ask it again. Four more days and your lovely wife will be returned to you as if nothing had happened." Constance spoke in soft tones it would be no good to get the Mayor worked up if he knew that in four days' time his wife was more than likely going to be going through considerable pain as her brain swelled up.

Sebastian turned and kicked at the low coffee table and let out a scream. Harley moved in again but Constance shook his head holding her advancement, "This deal is going from bad to worse. Do you know that Batman is on to you?"

Carlos dismissed him with a wave of one hand, "The Batman yes, yes I know. We had a small talk on the roof last night. Had your Police service done their job properly and followed through with the warrant then Batman would not be here," he walked over to the small table that held a silver cafetiere and cups and poured two cups of coffee, "Once again something that is your own fault and not mine." He walked over to Sebastian with the two cups and was quietly surprised when the Mayor took one from him. "Let me show you something."

Carlos motioned for the Mayor to sit down as he opened up his laptop, "Here look at this," he said and spun the laptop around for Sebastian to see, "The medical reports, as you can see perfectly normal."

Sebastian moved uncomfortably as Harley Quinn sat next to him and slid up, pushing her fish net legs up against him, he tried to take his attention of her, what he saw on the laptop screen did just that. He stared in amazement at the medical report for his wife, "How did you get this?"

Carlos took the laptop and spun it back round opening up another window as he did so, "This is a drug test Sebastian all prospective buyers require paper trails of results. Back in the day Axis just had to produce a drug and some tin pot ruler would purchase it with no qualms. Nowadays, bah," he waved a dismissive hand in the air at the current state of affairs, "They want medical reports, declarations of this, that and the other as if they were legitimate businesses." He fell silent as he opened up one private email he smiled at the Mayor of Gotham City and spun the laptop round.

Sebastian saw the email it was short and to the point, what made him catch his breath was the sum of money mentioned. "Is that fifty million dollars?" he asked his throat suddenly dry.

Carlos nodded a smiled like a predator, "fifty million dollars, and that's just an opening offer wait until the end of the experiment you can easily double that," he could see the Mayor working it out in his head, "your ten percent cut of that figure there would be five million dollars."

Sebastian's head was spinning, the man opposite him was mad but so was the money he was offering him on top of what he and Axis had already paid. "Four days?" he asked in a whisper and Constance sat back and smiled.

Gordon Family residence,

Barbara awoke from an uncomfortable sleep, she had dreamed of her father being cut open like the dogs in the Batch #32 reports, his brain swollen and visible through a shattered skull only he was still alive and crying out for Barbara to save him. The sound of a bone saw that she woke to turned out to be her mobile phone. Her fingers danced across her bedside and found the cool moulded plastic casing, no number appeared on the screen and for some reason it did not switch to her answer service. She hit the green button and held it to her ear, "Hello?"

"It's me, no names," Bruce said quickly. "This is a secure line, about as secure as it gets but it is best not to take any chances. Did you see your dad?"

"Yes I stayed about an hour or so but I was almost asleep on my feet a nurse offered me a cot but I sleep better at home, wish I hadn't." She rubbed at her eyes, feeling the grit in the corners.

"Nightmares I bet," Bruce did not need a verbal answer the silence said it all. "Go see him again tonight before you come here, I think Axis is still in town and if they are they will have a man on the ground at the hospital. Look for anyone or anything unusual then get back here and we will take it from there." 

The line went dead and Barbara lowered the phone, "goodbye to you too." It was on leaving her bedroom that she realised she had not gone to her own apartment but to her family home and had slept in what was once her mom and dad's bed but was now only her dad's. She showered quickly at first but as the water encased her she felt her muscles sag and turned the heat up a little higher, she had not bathed or showered in over twenty four hours, as she washed she counted her new bruises and found a new muscle that ached a new and in the shower she could cry.

At the hospital she had no trouble getting onto the ward, her ID opened doors immediately and she walked briskly to the glass partition. The lights inside had been dimmed and all the patients were lying down, "They had to say 'eat' to get them to eat something?" an elderly woman said next to Barbara, a sad smile on her face and red eyes, "Only trouble was none of them stopped," she motioned to one of the patients close by his hand was bandaged up, "He got through two fingers before one of the nurses saw him." At that the woman began crying.

Barbara looked for her father suddenly fearful, relief filled her as she found him towards the back. A nurse took his temperature then noted it on a chart before moving on to the next bed. The way they all lay was almost too calming an effect it was if they were all simply asleep and not suffering from any kind of drug, she looked about and could see faces she had seen that morning now more tired and drawn but looking upon their love ones with a sense of well-being. If only they knew what they may be witnessing in two days' time then perhaps they would look as fearful as Barbara did.

Barbara watched as another nurse entered the ward, hair black hair pulled back in a severe bun and sporting a tan from a recent holiday it seemed. She motioned a quick hello to the other nurse who waved back slowly and with a look of puzzlement on her face. The second nurse now worked down the opposite side of the beds. Barbara watched her take one chart and hold a hand a few inches above it then replace it, she did this on a further two charts before the first nurse approached her. Even with the glass partition Barbara could tell that a heated debate was taking place, the second nurse held up her hands to calm the first nurse and Barbara caught sight of a slim black box affixed to her palm.

Barbara turned to call out to the two police guards but the words stuck in her throat, she turned back just as nurse two started to back out of the ward. Barbara started to walk round to the door, keeping an eye on the nurse. She turned the corner as the nurse stepped out, "Sorry I guess I got the wrong ward," she said politely in accented voice and a cheerful smile on her lips, when the first nurse had turned back the smile dropped quickly, muttered a curse to herself and bit her lip in consternation.

"Hey, excuse me?" Barbara called out and began to approach the nurse, the nurse looked over the smile returning briefly then faltered the moment before she ran. 

Barbara gave chase instantly, the nurse had started to stretch ahead as she headed down the empty corridor, she burst through a set of double doors into a busy ward and Barbara heard two men shout out stop just as she followed through. Barbara stopped turning with speed to a dazed looking police man, "The nurse, she's not a nurse you have to stop her." Before the officers could respond Barbara gave chase again. Outside the secure ward the corridors were crowded which slowed the faux nurse down as she stumbled and pushed past the infirm and well without consideration.

Barbara gained momentum jumping over spilled trollies that the faux nurse had dumped in an effort to slow down her pursuer, Barbara heard the nurse scream out in anger as a lift closed just as she reached it. She turned and ran towards a fire exit door shouldering it open and setting off an alarm as she rushed through. Barbara only seconds behind her crashed into the door then felt the heavy weight of someone tackle her at the waist, dropping her to the ground and holding her down. "Police hold it right there,"

"Damn it you moron you got the wrong person." She cried out.

The policeman chuckled, "That's what they all say lady."

Gotham General,

"Who was it?" Bruce asked over the phone. The tackling police man had offered his apologies again and again to Barbara when they had checked her driving licence and discovered just who they had attempted to arrest. Barbara had given them the description of the faux nurse, checks were quickly run, the photo fit image shown to the on duty nurse for the ward who told them what they were already suspecting. The nurse did not exist anywhere in the hospitals register.

"Could have been a reporter, it looked a little bit like a camera in her hand, or..." She opened her car door and slammed it shut a little harder than usual still pissed at being taken down, "Or it's someone working for Constance."

"I would go for the second one he's still in town and gathering notes on his little experiment." The line went quiet for a moment then, "Get over here we need to discuss this further."

The Bat Cave,

The amount of technology on display in such a strange environment as the cave system beneath Wayne Manor still made Barbara's mouth hang open in awe as the lift door opened up. She know knew what Bruce Wayne and Wayne Enterprises had been hiding for so long and she wondered just how many people truly knew that Bruce Wayne and Batman were one in the same. Alfred led the way across platforms that held work stations and machinery that were clearly state of the art if not perhaps prototypes ahead of their time. They passed close to one platform and Barbara muttered a "Wow!" at the sight of the agile Bat wing, up close it was more menacing than she could have imagined possible.

Alfred caught the look on her face, "Off shore accounts and dummy corporations own most of what you are seeing here Miss Gordon. The shipping and paperwork was a little tricky to start off with but I managed to get the hang of it in the end."

"This was why paperwork was so scarce in the books at work, Wayne enterprises board have no idea do they?" Alfred winked in response, "Your Tax evasion must make the Falcone's look like small time crooks." She responded and Alfred smiled proudly back.

Bruce was stood at a small work bench a pair of welding googles covered his eyes as he worked on a small grey coloured box, he looked up as he heard them approach from behind and pulled the googles up onto his forehead. "Giving chase was a reckless mistake," He said straight out catching Barbara and even Alfred unawares. "Follow and observe should always be key, had you done that we may very well have Constance's location by now."

"Now hang on, I am not some hot-headed teenager, that woman was up to no good and I gave chase, If I had gotten her we would have been able to get a ton of information out of her." Barbara hit back.

"No, the police would have her and she would have called a lawyer and been back on the streets with zero information gleaned. Barbara Gordon was giving chase not Batgirl," Bruce turned back to the work table and pushed the grey box aside, "I told you before this is not a game, the stakes are higher now than they were, you need to control yourself." He was having a go at her for a mistake that even Dick Grayson would have made, he was venting for no other reason than he felt helpless in saving Selina Kyle his emotions were getting the better of him.

Barbara pointed viciously at Bruce as she spoke, "My Dad's life is hanging in the balance, trust me I know this is not a game, but if you are not going to do anything but hide in here then I will go out there and do something." 

Bruce turned, "I am not hiding, I am..." he faltered.

"You cannot shake it can you, whatever Harley did to you, it's still working away." Bruce nodded, "What did the CAT scan show?" Barbara asked.

"Some mild swelling in the insula and striatum, though that could be from the blow to the head, certainly not batch thirty five, thank heavens. Ivy may have found something new for her bag of tricks." Alfred responded this time, "We need to tip their hand and soon, whatever is going on we need answers and Klaus Cannon may be the only one willing to give them to us."

"There are two of us now Bruce, we can do this," Barbara said encouragingly.

Bruce's brow furrowed and he pulled the goggles from his head leaving a deep red phantom outline across the skin. "Tag team? You take one I take the other."

Barbara shrugged, "Something like that, I take two you take one." Bruce started to shake his head, "Cannon is going to be with either Constance or Ivy and wherever Ivy is, Harley will be close by, I can handle them."

"You go after both targets together at the same time, then the chance of the other finding out is minimal," Alfred seemed impressed, "It may work and it keeps you out of Harley's reach."

"Barbara you are not ready to face Poison Ivy, she is more calculating and a lot clearer headed than Harley." The plan could work but Bruce was concerned for Barbara, already Ivy and Constance had unwittingly hit Bruce where it hurt with Selina, if he were to loose Barbara too...

Barbara held up three fingers, "Three days Bruce, that's all we have left. You know as well as I do Constance is not going to appear with a miracle cure there is nothing in it for him." 

"If we do this, it is my way do you understand." Bruce said and motioned to Alfred who quickly walked off. Barbara could not help but smile grimly. "We need to work out their locations and fast."

Alfred had started to work on the main computer he was quickly pulling up the evidence already gathered from the museum as well as Woodrue's offices. A map sprung up on the main screen and both sites were circled along with the town hall, "this is the flight path of the helicopter that Constance was on," Alfred said and a narrow blue line crossed the map, looped the town hall and headed back in roughly the same direction. "This is the path that Harley Quinn took," Bruce shifted on his feet and muttered the name under his breath. "But Miss Gordon here gave up the chase a couple of blocks in so her final destination is not really known."

Bruce looked at Harley's path, the urge to suddenly run and head in that direction pulled at him, "That's the warehouse district, only a few empty units though, that's your target Barbara."

She nodded grimly, she would have to go from building to building and that would take time. Now all they had to do was find Carlos Cesar Constance. Barbara looked at what they had "I know it is obvious but that helicopter's path crosses Gotham airport a few miles later," she watched Alfred start to type and felt out of control. She rested a hand on his shoulder, "May I?" She asked and Alfred moved aside.

Barbara sat down and looked at the surrounding screens of the super computer, "Your system is out of date," she said as she began to type, she smiled to herself as she felt the two men behind her stiffen up at the accusation. "Don't worry I am working on a new one for the library and all local utility companies and schools, lets them access information fast and cross reference it even quicker." A blue screen popped up on a lower monitor and in seconds Barbara had figured out how to move the program to the main screen, Bruce gave a low whistle. "I call it Oracle."

Bruce leaned over her, "I take it I have you to thank for shutting my feed to the Police Departments central computer."

Barbara nodded then apologised, "That system was the first one I piggybacked onto Oracle, only way I could do it was by changing the server routers anything that was yours was lost in my clear out." A monitor to their right brought up the main system for the airport and Barbara began to run through it, "Nothing direct to Porto Areta no surprise there, we have one personal jet from Metropolis and one from Northern mechanics and Technologies and one more from a company called Tri-Axant, that has been here for a few days now," She turned to Bruce, "Where's the Wayne Lear Jet?"

Bruce smiled, "In the shop being repaired."

"Tri-Axant is a plastics company, dealing mainly in heavy containment systems," Alfred said reading the information off one screen.

Bruce looked about him he was stunned by the system at work. The history of each jet and its owners filled the screens. The system was grabbing data from everywhere the pilot's names had now started to fill another screen along with their history. "Oracle brought up all this data from what was on that screen without you asking?" Barbara nodded. 

"There you are," Alfred exclaimed, "Tri-Axant was part of a merger with a French company four years ago that dealt in polyethylene terephthalate, a company that has shares owned by Axis Chemical."

Barbara stabbed at her keyboard, "hanger three Gotham Airport." 

Bruce strode off towards a bay of thick heavy looking boxes as he approached a single light source high above them flicked on and scanned his body. A deep rumble followed and Barbara stopped working to watch. The heavy boxes separated and turned outwards revealing three bat suits, each contained within a heavy clear container. Bruce approached the one on the left and the partition opened silently.

While Bruce was doing this Alfred had gotten up and had gone to the work bench and collected the small grey box, he approached Bruce now who was partly suited up. Alfred peeled back the collar on the bat suit and inserted the box between Bruce's neck and the suit itself. "What's that for?" Barbara asked intrigued. 

"If I lose control," Bruce said and continued to suit up the cowl coming down over his face, Barbara watched as Bruce's demeanour changed and when he spoke next his voice was deep and gravelly, bringing her skin out in goose bumps. "Alfred can hit a switch and a strong electric current will immobilise me."

"Fair enough," Barbara responded and grabbed her duffel bag from the floor, "Anywhere for me to change?" she asked.

Alfred took her to a quiet corner and left her to change. Her suit was becoming tattered, she had yet repair the damage from the museum fight and had gained even more rips and dents at the town hall, she spared a look at Batman and felt embarrassed with how she looked next to him. "Oh shit!" she exclaimed as moved her hand about the empty duffel bag, her mask was nowhere to be found. She stepped out and called to Alfred and Batman, "I have a problem, my mask it's gone."

Alfred smiled, "You left it here yesterday, I took the liberty in upgrading you though," he looked her up and down, "When the chance arises I'll need your measurements for a suit too." He went back to the work station and walked over a mask not dissimilar to Batman's. "It should fit perfectly. We build them here and order the parts in from ten different businesses to hide our trail." Barbara took hold of the mask it hardly weighed anything yet looked tough enough to stop a bullet, "You have a radio transmitter built in so you will have constant contact between myself and Batman, I didn't have time to wire in night vision yet apologies."

Barbara shook her head and surprising Alfred gave him a hug, "thank you."

Batman watched from a distance, he was eager to get going time was ticking down and Selina and Jim Gordon would soon be heading into phase two. Yet he allowed Barbara to have this moment, she was growing into a hero and one day an equal to Batman. She slipped the mask over her head and became a symbol that would strike fear into the evil that filled the streets of Gotham. "Ready?" he asked her as she approached.




The Batman: Downfall Ch. 06



"Ready!" she replied with a wicked smile.



The Batman: Downfall Ch. 07



Gotham General,

As the last patient was wheeled back into the secure ward Doctor Dan Black spared a glance at his watch, it was a little after two in the morning and the realisation brought on a yawn. He held his hand up to his mouth to conceal it but the nurse next to him smiled and winked. "You need a cup of coffee?" she asked.

He nodded, "Hot and strong please," he replied and bit his tongue to stop himself adding Armodafinil to that list too. The nurse snorted a laugh an handed him the last manila folder, he flicked it open and went straight to the brain scan, though he already knew what to expect when he got there. "All the same," he muttered more to himself than the nurse. Blood had been taken, each patient had now had numerous CT scans done which had only lasted a few minutes but they kept the patients inside the machine as the results were looked at and re-scans done time and time again for a total of almost two hours for each patient but the results were all the same, their brains were swelling and no one could understand why.

"At this rate they will die in two days' time," the nurse added. She had looked at the reports on the ride up in the elevator, such a pity that the elevator had jammed between floors for five minutes too. It was just enough time for her to update her benefactor before the lift started to work again.

Dan offered a look at the nurse, he guessed curiosity had gotten the better of her and he did not really blame her. The whole hospital was now talking about the fifth floor secure ward and the patients detained within. This was Dan's first time in the room with them and needless to say he felt uncomfortable being around them. "Keep that to yourself okay?" he replied as sternly as he could. Everyone had been notified of the reporter who had managed to get into the ward, now every single doctor, nurse and orderly were asked for ID which was then checked against the system before being granted access.

"Sleep," the nurse said loudly and Dan watched as each patient's eyes closed. She smiled at the doctor as his mouth fell open, "Creepy isn't?" he nodded his reply, mouth still open. The Orderlies said good night as they hurried past the doctor and nurse, one of them a middle aged Hispanic gentleman offered a silent prayer while surveying the room with scared eyes then dashed off. "No one likes being here on their own." 

Dan handed the folders back to the nurse and he watched her go about placing them at the end of each bed, he rubbed at the stubble on his chin it was so quiet in the room that he could hear the rasp it made as he did so, "Come on let's get that coffee you offered me." He said as the nurse finished up. The managed to reach the door before the sound of a bed tray being dropped made them turn around.

One of the patients, the young man who had bitten his fingers off was stood up at the very end of the room. Dan felt the nurse tense up next to him and his own body did the same with the added flip flop of his stomach to boot. "That's odd," the nurse said, her words a little shaky, "Sleep!" she called out loudly. 

The patient walked the few steps to the end of his bed then turned and faced them. Dan fumbled in his pocket for the syringe that was filled with a tranquilizer and pulled it free holding it to his side the nurse glanced down glad to see that this doctor took precautions. The patient took one unsteady step forward and froze one leg behind one leg forward. "At what point do we go from odd to bat shit crazy?" he whispered through gritted teeth.

The Nurse went to reply but somewhere the fast forward button had been pressed. The patient ran forward with sickening speed his arms held up and teeth barred in a feral imitation. One arm hit her hard in the face and sent her sprawling to the floor, her knee smacking hard on the cold tiled floor and sending pain flaring up her thigh. The screaming she thought was her own until she swallowed hard and found the screaming was continuing. 

The patient had straddled the doctor, his knees were buried deep under the doctor's arm pits and his hands gripped the side of his head. The patient's head was forward as if he were kissing the doctor only his mouth was a little further up, now the Nurse gave her own scream as the patient jerked his head back and blood flew as Doctor Dan Black's nose was ripped from his face.

Warehouse district,

They had left the Bat cave and driven out under the heavy and foreboding clouds of a gathering storm, the light wind that had sped them on their way had now grown in strength, tugging at Batgirls cape as she moved from rooftop to rooftop. She came to a stop and looked up, the clouds pressed down all around Gotham, they churned roiled with the rain they contained, and she could smell it in the air and feel the friction of the coming thunder and lightning. As if to confirm her suspicions a deep rumble of thunder rolled in.

Batgirl had started off by striking off the warehouses that were in full or constant use, the recent boom in the markets allowed her to take out a large chunk of the warehouses. She now stood furthest from the docks, here the warehouses were either demolished or in need of serious repair. Roofs sagged and windows were shattered if not missing altogether. She counted six possible hideouts, seven if she included the one that comprised of a single floor the rest of the building had collapsed in on its self a few winters back.

Batgirl's radio clicked twice innocuously, but to her she knew it meant that Batman had arrived at the airport, all she had to do now was find Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn and ask them nicely to hand over Klaus Cannon. It took her only a few minutes within the first the warehouse to deduce that it had not seen human life good or bad in quite some time, after the second one she started to get the creeping feeling that she was in the wrong place.

The third warehouse showed more promise. On the second floor down she found a large cleared space. Office equipment such as desks, chairs even old computers had been piled in odd piles throughout. The dust and debris on the ground showed recent activity she knelt down and turned her torch on, the pink metal of which stood in stark odds to the rest of her outfit. Her radio clicked three times, "Boy, someone's a little impatient," Batgirl muttered to herself. 

There were foot prints, the deep tread and outline gave her the hint of work boots. She stood up and scanned the area quickly, more prints but not as discernable led to a window. Here the person had moved back and forth a lot, impatiently waiting, but for what. The view was of the city skyline itself the tall buildings raised into the night sky, Wayne Enterprises dominating them all, their lights steady and constant against the gathering black clouds. Whoever had stood here was looking out for someone. Finally she made the decision she reached up and touched the side of her cowl as she was shown "This is a bust, they are not here."

Gotham Airport,

Batman was deep in thought, or lack thereof. His eyes were closed and he took deep breaths in and out as he cleared his mind. Leaving the Bat cave had been on thing but entering Gotham City had almost gotten the better of him, he had dropped Batgirl off and for three miles he had driven aimlessly around, wherever he looked Harley Quinn stood, each flashing neon sign held her name in hot pink or neon green. He fought with himself to turn the car back around and aimed it for Gotham Airport. 

Batman had cleared the fence at the end of Runway two the security cameras were static and he had managed to fire a small EMP blast at the closest one which had brought him the time he needed. Some part time security guard would be along at some point to fix the camera at which point Batman was sure to have left the scene.

Hanger three sat in total darkness, using his thermal imaging he had picked up the cold outline of the aeroplane inside a newer and larger version of the jet that Bruce Wayne currently had. Worryingly there were no heat signatures of anything alive, human atleast. So now he sat hunched over watching the main hanger door from the top of Hanger six trying to clear his head of Harley Quinn and lessen the erection that nudged painfully at his suit. "This is a bust, they are not here." The voice said in his receiver bringing him out of his meditation.

He switched to the thermal camera again and scanned the hangers only the rat's seemed to be busy behind the closed doors. "Are you sure?" He asked as he scanned the area.

"Someone's been here at a guess, looks like a space was cleared I don't know what for. If they were here they are long gone." Batgirl responded. Batman stood up letting the muscles in his leg stretch and tingle. 

Had it been Robin at the warehouse he would have felt confident in that assessment but Batgirl was no Robin and he still had his doubts no matter how eager she seemed to be. "Do another search, be thorough. Be certain." The radio clicked off with no reply.

Five minutes passed, the first warning drops of rain had started to splatter down, big heavy drops that exploded as they landed. Batman's receiver came to life again, "No one is here I am certain of it, something was going on here or was meant to though. The place looks laid out but in a haphazard kind of way..." She trailed off and Batman knew she was trying to think of a better way of putting what she was seeing into words.

Had Alfred had a another day to work on her new cowl he would have been able to fit a camera and right now Batman would be looking through Batgirls eyes. "You mean the disarray is intentional."

"That's it, like they wanted it to look a mess." Batgirl sighed, "Maybe they knew we were on to them and left. What's it like over there?"

Had they all read the signs wrong somehow, the helicopter's flight path, Harley's escape they had all been so certain earlier now they were staring at a dead ends. Batgirl's question came again, "Nothing," he replied through gritted teeth. A figure in thermal red and orange hues appeared before him, body pressed against the side of one hanger, "hang on," he said and muted the radio.

It had to be Harley Quinn, the outline was certainly female and to Batman and his fevered brain the logical conclusion could only be that, Harley Quinn was down there heading into the Hanger. Batman flew down, his cape spreading out behind him. He landed on his feet, letting the momentum take him into a roll before he stood up straight in a fluid motion, the sound of his landing muffled by the rumbling of Thunder. Batman could only see Harley Quinn now, her body pressed close to one concrete wall, the shadows of the other looming hangers doing a fine job of concealing her to any passer-by but not to Batman. 

Batman was only a step behind her before Harley Quinn reacted. A sudden flash of sheet lightning threw everything into stark black and white the shadow of Batman loomed large over Harley Quinn. She turned a startled cry escaping her lips as Batman grabbed both her upper arms...only it was not Harley Quinn he now had hold of. The blonde pigtails, the plaid skirt, the fishnet stockings faded away with each confused blink. The woman he now had a firm hold of had long dark brown hair the plaid skirt had faded to reveal a dark suit jacket and trousers. "Batman?" The woman exclaimed.

Batman let her go and took a step back, giving her room to breathe and to feel less intimidated, he recognised her and was then surprised at seeing her here, "Lois Lane, what are you doing here?"

Lois Lane dusted herself down, straightening her jacket and trying to stop her heart from exploding, "Well I am going to guess you are here for the same reason I am. Carlos Constance and possibly Axis Chemicals as a whole have something to do with those poor people in Gotham General." If it were any other reporter Batman would have been surprised at what had just been said, but Lois Lane had a knack for piecing a puzzle together...well most puzzles as far as he knew, Clark Kent was still keeping his big secret concealed from her.

"Can I ask how you came to that conclusion?" Batman asked.

"I could ask you the same question. Care to go on record for me?" Her smile was warm and friendly, though her eyes glinted with the hope of a scoop. When Batman failed to respond the smiled dropped quickly away, "Fine, what a surprise! I have an insider at Axis that's all you are going to get. They told me of some secret little experiments. We have been keeping an eye on Carlos ever since, when he flew to France we did not think much of it, but then he headed straight back to US soil and landed here in Gotham. Then a few days later bam!" Lois hit her fist into one open palm, "twenty odd people are mysteriously admitted to Gotham General and word on the street is a chemical was involved." Batman responded with a nod and Lois smiled raising her eyebrows in a cocky fashion.

Batgirl was listening in to all of this, she had sighed with relief when the figure had turned out not to be Harley Quinn. That relief had turned to shock as the reporter had started to tell her tale albeit missing out some juicy bits no doubt. Now Batgirl felt uneasy, "Something is not right about all this."

Lois continued, "You know what has been bothering me the most about this, the fact that your Police department do not have a clue, my insider there says they are looking for Poison Ivy but even he was not too sure about that." 

Batgirl nodded to herself in total agreement with Lois Lane, "She's right, I gave the Mayor Carlos' name, he passed it onto the cops, so why is there no arrest warrants for him."

"Sir, Batgirl is right, Oracle shows no arrest warrants for Carlos Cesar Constance or for Pamela Isley." Alfred added, his fingers darting over the keyboard amazed at the new interface system that he had been left with.

"Are you sure you gave him the name?" Batman asked and Lois looked at him as if he had gone insane before she realised he was speaking to whoever was in his ear.

"I stood next him and told him flat out. Then at the hospital he said the police were after him." Batgirl replied.

"What were his exact words?" Batman asked.

Batgirl shook her head, "I don't know I was seeing my dad for the first time in there," she took a deep breath; the silence on the radio told her Batman was waiting patiently for her. She thought back trying to block out that terrible vision of her father in the ward. She focused on Sebastian, on what he was saying then she let out a curse. "He said they had men on the ground searching for whoever did this. I didn't think much of it at the time but...sorry."

Batman looked at Lois Lane, she was moving from foot to foot, she knew something was up her story had perhaps just gone up a gear. She had a talent alright one that Batman knew got her into trouble a lot, Batman was careful with what he said next, "We have to assume he is in on it to." 

Batgirl shook her head in disbelieve, anger was swelling inside her at the betrayal. "The Mayor of Gotham helping with illegal human drug trials."

"I'm on my way." Was all that Batman replied with, there would be time to discuss the weakness of the governing body of Gotham City another time, but right now he had to get to the Mayor's apartment on the other side of town.

"Pick me up on the way," Batgirl turned from the broken window and started to head for the stairwell, before Batman made her stop.

"We still need to find where Ivy and Harley are held up," Batman said then quickly tapped his receiver four times informing Alfred that he was speaking directly to him now, "Ivy will be close to plant life, search Oracle and cross reference with break-ins over the last two months." 

Alfred came back with the results in under two minutes, impressing Batman and bringing a cocky smile to Batgirl at how good her system worked. "It seems there is nowhere that fits those criteria. I widened the search to include swimming pools, bath houses and the like, places that are humid enough to sustain perhaps new plant life and the results the same."

Lois watched Batman's reactions to the news that only he could hear, she likened it to watching a schizophrenic having an internal argument and the unease that she always had around Batman crept back in, how Superman could spend time with this guy was something she supposed she would never understand even Clark seemed to like him for some reason. "Ivy is clever but not that clever, we are overlooking someone, something or somewhere." Batman said out loud.

The radio went quiet for a few seconds, Batman opened and closed one fist anxious to be on his way, aware that time was slipping from them and that stage two was only mere hours away if not already beginning, he only hoped Barbara Gordon had not yet had chance to calculate this as well. "Three buildings were demolished a year ago the Giordano Botanical Gardens was sadly condemned after Ivy's last stay there. Boone Arboretum was also demolished two months after that and small hot house plant shipping company near,"

Batgirl cut over Alfred's speech, "No wait go back, Boone Arboretum is still standing," she said feeling her heart speeding up she began a dash to the stairwell and the roof above.

"Miss I am afraid to say but Oracle confirms Boone Arboretum was torn down." Alfred responded.

Batgirl leapt up the steps clearing two at a time, grim determination on her face as she bounded onto the roof, "That's an error! two years ago a group of bored, wealthy housewives made a petition to save the Arboretum and declare the last standing building of Kincaid Boone a site of significant architectural design. The motion was passed but since then there has been a ton of legal wrangling over who owns the actual rights to the property."

"Why is Oracle not showing this?" Batman asked.

"Because it was done in a small council meeting so there was no digital transcript. The minutes were taken down by hand and is now sitting on a large shelf in the Library waiting for some poor intern of mine to digitally convert it," Batgirl said quickly, taking a big gulp of air in afterwards. "Trust me the arboretum is still there and so is Ivy and Harley."

"Okay, you know where to go," Batman said, the trace of a grim smile hit his lips as Batgirl hooted with excitement, the smile faded away as quickly as it had arrived. "Be careful though act as if they are expecting you." Batman turned to Lois Lane he looked down and noticed the discrete recorder in one slender hand. Batman unhooked his grappling gun from his belt and just as quickly unhooked a small black box, he double tapped an inlaid button and the box beeped as a small EMP blast rolled from it and effectively wiped the memory from the recorder. The grappling gun fired high and Batman spared one more look at Lois Lane, "Sorry about your recorder." He said and shot through the air his cape billowing behind him.

Lois watched him go, her brow furrowed at what he said. She turned her recorder over not noticing anything untoward until she tried to play back the last ten minutes only to find the memory had been destroyed, "Oh you son of a bitch!" she exclaimed.

Gotham General,

Sebastian pushed the officer aside, and marched into the ward, his forward motion abruptly coming to a stop as he looked into the chaos that was on the other side of the partition. A liberal trail of blood obscured the view but not as much as he wished it was.

One man was lying on the floor his head caved in, two more men were pushed up against one wall both had their teeth bared as they punched and tried to bite one another. Sebastian finally found his wife in the chaos and he uttered a horrified cry. She was bent over one of the beds, her gown discarded. What Sebastian could see of her tanned and toned body was bruised and smeared with blood, behind her a stocky man ploughed his cock into her with vicious speed while another had his hands buried in her black hair and was ramming his cock into her mouth.




The Batman: Downfall Ch. 07



Sebastian tried to shout out for them to stop but the words stuck in his throat, he watched as Jim Gordon naked and erect grabbed the man that was forcing his cock into his wife's mouth and pushed him away, his cock popping free as he went. Gordon hardly glanced at the man as he fell in a heap and screamed incoherently instead he turned back to Simone and without hesitation or asking pushed his cock into her open and willing mouth.

The man behind her stepped back, his cock wilting and a thin stream of cum connected him and the woman for a second before it broke, the man on the floor scrambled to his feet and raced around to the now vacant area, his cock still a rigid and with another angry scream shoved himself hard into her. Sebastian turned away he managed a step before his legs gave way and he fell to his knees and began to weep uncontrollably.

Whatever semblance these people held was lost in the driving madness that had enveloped them one at a time as their amygdala began to expand and their frontal lobe began to lose a battle as quickly as its supply of blood began to dwindle. Tad Hardcaster was the first to go, he had climbed from his bed and gone straight to the person he saw as his tormentor, he had pounced on him and tore his nose from his face.

Tad had turned his attention to the nurse, it was as he pounced on her that the unassuming in life William Boyd had grabbed him around the neck and repeatedly smashed his head against the door until his face was nothing more than a pulped and bloody mess and his body spasmed as the nerves and muscles died. William Boyd had helped the nurse to her feet only to rip her uniform from her body his chubby hands pawing at her as she cried out for help he silenced her with a blow to the face before mounting her.

One by one they all became consumed by the anger that had been unleashed inside them, Jim Gordon had sent a man flying across the room the body shattering one glass panel, the body lay crumpled on the floor where Paul Noyce began to kick and stamp at the head with his bare foot until it caved in. Paul stumbled off dragging his now broken foot behind him, his own excitement at seeing the nurse poking through his gown.

Simone Garcia had given herself willingly to Gideon Rush, she had taken a bite of his shoulder, tearing old flesh from the muscle though the old man had hardly noticed as he fucked Simone with a ungraceful mix of quick thrusts and stuttering jerks, he had not cum in her for more than a few seconds before he was punched in the head from the side his frail body spinning away while Clark Feather, he with the ample gut and ample cock pushed himself into the willing and waiting Simone.

Her chart showed the name Samantha Kinkalow, but for most of her life she had gone by the name Selina Kyle, was on all fours, Gideon Rush a man almost in his eighties was under her, his hips bucking up as his small, hard cock entered her well used sex, while behind her Clark Feather a man that on any other day would have Selina repulsed by the gut on him buried his surprisingly well endowed cock into her backside. She had let out a feral yelp the first time the huge head had nudged at her tiny anus only for it to be forced forward with painful surprise.

Jim Gordon pulled free of Simone's mouth, his cum dribbled from her mouth as she let out a long moan of pleasure as the man behind continued to drive into her. Gordon's cock was still rigid, he had cum twice now and still the overwhelming need to fuck and to fight consumed him. He found Samantha Kinkalow on her knees Gideon and Clark had finished with her and had moved on to one another. Samantha's sex was pushed down on the now unconscious and possibly dead Doctor Daniel Black, Samantha mewed like a cat, and she hissed and clawed at anyone who came within reaching distance as she ground down on the doctor's face. Jim Gordon caught one hand as it flashed out her nails still managing to gouge four deep cuts in his thigh, her wrist snapped and she let out a hate filled yelp. Jim held her up, dragging her from the doctor, her inner thighs smeared with fresh blood as she kicked and twisted in the man's grip. He threw her to the floor and was between her legs quickly, the blood smearing across his own flesh as his cock found her blooded sex and slipped in with sticky ease.

It continued on this way for ten minutes, anyone who dared to enter the room was assaulted and they were left with no choice but to lock the door in case any of the patients was to break free. The Mayor turning up had not been planned but it had heralded the only solution left to the hospital. Five armed police officers in riot gear stood at the doorway, in amongst them were three orderlies, they had wanted more but no one had volunteered. Each carried a small plastic case containing ten needles all filled with the strongest sedative the hospital had stock of.

The plan was simple, push their way in, knock them to the floor, incapacitate them if necessary then inject them and hope to God it worked.

One officer would say later that it was like entering a war zone, as soon as they had entered all the anger, all the hate turned on them. A night stick shot out of the crowded riot police and caught one patient in the mouth his teeth breaking with a sickening crunch, an orderly brave from a sudden rush of adrenaline stuck a needle into any bit of bare skin he could find and pushed the plunger all the way down. 

As the police and orderlies moved into the room they remained a tight unit letting the enraged patients bounce off shields or topple with the force of a night stick to the face, each patient downed was injected. Jim Gordon put up a big fight and the officers found it difficult to go at the man with all their might the punch that felled their Police Commissioner was delivered with an apologetic "Sorry!" 

Twenty minutes later the officers sat, knelt or stood with horror and tiredness mixed on their faces. One orderly had been stretchered off with a broken leg and half an ear missing when Simone Garcia had lunged forward and taken a bite. They watched as nurses and doctors went about their work in the room, placing the patients on the beds and strapping them down before they cleaned the blood and semen and other fluids from their skins. Only then could they see what needed suturing. Four bodies were taken away in black body bags Daniel Black was in one of them the other three were patients. The nurse who had found herself trapped inside had been taken away they had found her with a face resembling a pulped strawberries, ribs broken and her sex a torn mess.

Boone Arboretum,

Batgirl stood on the bridge that overlooked the abandoned Arboretum; it was easy to see why Batman had overlooked this place. In the heavy downpour old flyers hung and fluttered on the large boarded fence that enveloped the run down property. Nature had been hard at work for the last few years, well pruned hedges and tree's now hung over grown in a weed filled conglomeration that made up the once welcoming entrance garden. The Arboretum had formed its own urban camouflage and bad paperwork had helped it disappear from the Gotham subconscious.

The vista lit up with a wicked flash of lightning followed by a deep rumble of thunder, the rain refused to be beaten on noise and the downpour grew heavier its sound increasing with the fresh gusto. She lingered on the bridge apprehension holding her back, but the tingling in her sex telling her to swing down there and fight. The next flash of lightning brought the image of Ivy and Batman together to life before her eyes, except it was now Batgirl and Batman. A reward for doing such a good job, Batgirl blushed under her mask, she was delaying the mission anyway she could. 

Batgirl was not stupid enough to go in through the front door instead she slipped round the rear finding a hole in the fence that she cut through into the grounds. The moment she was on the other side of the fence she knew she had the right place. The air smelt fetid and hot with plant life, around her weeds had withered and died, new growth, unnatural growth was prevalent. Hangers and vines of deep luscious green carpeted the ground. Had she not almost been killed by creepers like the one's she was now seeing she would have walked over them and alerted Ivy. She stood at the very corner of the boarded fence, the Arboretum itself was another ten feet away not within jumping distance not even for someone of Batgirl's calibre.

The phone line above her gave her another idea. She ducked back through the fence and hurried across the road where she quickly began to climb the rain slick phone pole. The line itself was wet through and slick to the touch, she had touched it with great trepidation aware that water and electricity do not mix but her choices were minimal and her father's life hung in the balance. She gripped the line in both hands and hooked her legs over for extra support and began to pull herself along.

She reached the roof of the Arboretum shaken but in one piece, she had slipped halfway over the vine field, her crossed legs had held but her hands had found a mix of rain, oil and bird poop and had lost all traction leaving her dangling upside down for a few heart stopping moments. That was now behind her for the moment, if she managed to get hold of Klaus Cannon getting him out was going to be a problem.

The glass roof was shattered in many places, in some places whole panes were missing and worse still creepers had begun to stretch out across the great domed expanse. Batgirl dropped down a level finding a small viewing platform that she discovered led into the Arboretums once grand restaurant. In here no plant life had invaded, only dust, dirt and rats, though this seemed the case she moved quickly but quietly watching where each foot landed. The skeleton of a dead bird turned to dust beneath one boot, the sound barely audible against the storm outside.

Batgirl moved forward a little quicker now, her movements masked beneath the downpour, she slipped through a doorway that once held to glass doors but now stood empty. The humidity encased her the moment she left the sanctuary of the restaurant, the air was heavy with heat and moisture and the walls were alive with plant life. She cleared a railing on the upper floor landing heavily on a passing guard, his gun clattering across the parquet floor. The body under her tried to rise so she grabbed the greasy black hair and slammed the masked faced into the ground the body beneath her going still.

At the bottom the Arboretum opened up in all directions, the ground was clear which told her that this way saw a lot of footfall still. She lifted and dragged the guard to a small office off to her left she found nothing but abandoned furniture. She dumped the body and moved on. The fourth room she entered brought her to a halt, equipment was spread out across one side of the room a man lank haired and greasy skinned busied himself at one machine. Batgirl peered further into the room, there was nowhere for Ivy or Harley to hide so she stepped in, "Klaus Cannon?" she said loudly.

The man gave a girlish yelp and dropped a beaker he was working with that shattered on the ground its contents consuming the plant life that was there. "W..w..who are y..y..you?" he stuttered and pressed himself up against the table as if she were about to lunge at him.

Batgirl held up her hands to show she meant no harm, "It's okay I am not here to hurt you," 'unless you don't come willing that is' she added in her head.

The man moved slowly down the length of the table his hand reaching out to bottle of vicious looking yellow liquid in a not to subtle way. His hand stopped as a sharp object dug into the wooden surface mere centimetres from his ring finger, he turned his head and looked at the bat shaped object his eyes went wide and he whipped his head back round, "B..B..Batman?" 

"Do I look like a man to you?" she asked astonished, the man shook his head. Batgirl took a risk and walked over to the man. 

Klaus' head began to shake back and forth uncontrollably, "I didn't m...m...mean to hurt those p..p.." Batgirl held one finger to his lips to silence him, his breath made her nose wrinkle.

"Good because you are going to help save them now." She lowered her finger and grabbed the man by the collar of his lab coat. 

"W..wait," Klaus pulled himself free and quickly began to gather small vials from machinery that began to beep incessantly at being stopped so abruptly, "C..c..cure." he said, but Batgirl saw a look of apprehension as he said it. 

They left the room and Klaus pointed to where Ivy was more than likely holed up. Before they could head on Klaus put a hand on Batgirls shoulder turning her around, he held up four shaking fingers and then mimicked walking with them on his palm and pointed at the floor. "four guards?" she asked and the man nodded back, she had dealt with one already leaving only three more to worry about if she did not count Ivy and Harley "I expected more but I won't complain."

Klaus whispered it with dread, "E...e...eaten."

They headed in the opposite direction and with each step Batgirl began to walk faster excitement was building in her at the ease in which she had gotten Klaus out of the Arboretum right from underneath the noses of Ivy and Harley. She was almost ready to break into song when their feet were taken from underneath them. The speed in which they were lifted was disorientating, one moment they headed one way then the next their bodies banging against a wall then a ceiling as whatever held them pulled them further into the arboretum.

Poison Ivy sat with relaxed ease as her baby brought her the intruder and Klaus, she had hoped it would be The Batman, perhaps eager for another playful session with her but when the vines finally appeared through a hole in the floor she was greeted with the sight of her other pain in the side, "My oh My if it is not the Batgirl herself." Ivy's smile beamed her red lips parting to show her teeth. She stood up as the bat struggled to break free from the clutches of the vine, "Struggling only makes him angry you know." Something metallic zinged past her face, catching her red hair as it went and cutting some away cleanly. Ivy watched the strands fall to the ground as another batarang whizzed past and embedded itself into a thick trunk close by. "Looks like Batman shares his toys now." 

Ivy danced and dodged the clumsy throws until Batgirl had used them all up, "finished?" she asked mockingly. Ivy reached up and ran her hand through Batgirl's red locks, "Batman does like his redhead's doesn't he, was that part of his employment advertisement 'must have red hair'." Batgirl spat in her face and struggled again to free her one trapped leg, Ivy sighed, "You are making him angry." Ivy stepped back as the wall to her right opened up.

Batgirl stopped struggling but Klaus began to try and fight loose turning this way and that and pleading for his life as the giant maw opened up. Batgirl had seen one already but not this size, its mouth was a horrible fleshy pink, beads of dew stuck to fine hairs across the pink surface, as she watched a long tongue unfurled and slapped across Klaus who shrieked and fainted. Batgirl shook with horror at the memory of Woodrue's Laboratory, she swallowed the fear back it would do her no good to give in to it now. 

"If you are here, where is the Alpha Bat?" Ivy asked stroking the tongue of the plant, "Not at home in bed I hope. Perhaps he is otherwise engaged with Carlos," She smiled as recognition crossed the girls face, "He is in for a surprise when he gets there, Harley will be so happy to see him, but not as happy as he will be." 

"What have you done to him?" Batgirl demanded.

Ivy shrugged, "I have no idea what you mean. A girl cannot help it if a man finds her fetching and available," she blew a kiss and winked and Batgirl, "the world will soon see the Batman for what he truly is," Ivy now stood nose to nose with Batgirl, her red lips turned up into a vicious sneer, "Just another horny man who cannot keep it in his bat trunks." She turned her back and started to walk away, "I'm bored with you now, goodbye." She clicked her fingers and the vine turned and began to head towards the open mouth.

Mayor Sebastian Garcia's residence,

The lightning made his thermal imaging and night vision camera's impossible to use, the rain made his bat ears useless he was left with the senses he was born with and Batman hoped that would be enough. The apartment was expansive stretching across the entire top floor he had done a full circuit from the floors rain soaked ledge. Sebastian Garcia did not allow any sort of security guard into his home they were allowed their camera's (in certain areas only) and window trip alarms only. Batman decided that through the bedroom was the best access point. He slipped a mirror between the frame, confusing the alarm and pushed the window open he slipped in and closed the window immediately. 

His radio receiver filled with static the moment he had put his head into the apartment and he had paused realising that a scrambler was in place somewhere inside, perhaps a precaution on listening devices by the Mayor's entourage or recently placed by the Mayors newest ally. Batman had no time to reason with the pitfalls of continuing, time was running out and even as he moved through the first room he knew Batgirl was putting her own life at risk at Boone Arboretum. 

Most of the apartment was in darkness and he slipped easily through the rooms, the rain hammered outside and made it difficult for him to detect sound. Up ahead was the Mayor's study, the door was open and Batman could hear talking a figure passed the doorway a flash of suit and then gone. As Batman got closer the conversation became clearer"...worrying? No not really, just disappointing, the early results speak for themselves if....hello, hello?" From his vantage point Batman watched Carlos chuck his mobile phone onto the table and swear at it before picking up a brandy glass ad taking a sip. "It must be cold out there, why not come in Batman." Carlos said without turning around.

Batman hesitated, he had been found out and by a very cool, calm customer. There was not much else he could do but join the man in the study. He entered the lit room and Carlos looked him up and down, the black costume no less intimidating in the light. "Yes I can see why everyone is scared of you," Carlos sat down in the antique leather chair behind the large wooden desk, "dominating and menacing even in a place like this," Carlos faked a shiver and let out a laugh.

"Klaus Cannon where is he?" Batman asked, remaining in the doorway.

Carlos pointed to another door, "In the next room having a bath, no wait," he pointed towards Batman, "He is down there watching television, no wait that's wrong," Carlos rubbed his chin then raised his index finger, "That's right he is on a flight back to South America, or at the bottom of Gotham River I always get those two mixed up." Batman flew at him, his cape billowing out behind him and for a moment Carlos was truly scared. His jacket was grabbed and Batman pulled him bodily over the table.

The voice that came from behind them had an effect that surprised Carlos, "Hey there Bat's looking for me?" the accent grated on Carlos but not on Batman. Carlos was let go and he fell with no grace onto the table, his Brandy spilling as he landed with a thud. "You think Mister J. will like my new look?"

Harley Quinn was leaning one arm stretched up on the wooden door frame, gone was her usual outfit now she wore nothing but her face paint and a fur coat belonging to Simone Garcia. The coat was open the grey pelt falling either side of her revealing her slim waist, breasts and trimmed dark pubic bush for both men to see.




The Batman: Downfall Ch. 07



Batman took a lumbering step towards her then shaking his head forced himself sideways turning as he did, turning away from the allure of Harley Quinn. Even Carlos minus any form of mind and mood altering drugs could not help but take in the creature before him. Out of her ridiculous outfit the woman was a pleasure to the eyes. He felt his own cock stirring as he thought about his dark skinned hands running across her supple breasts and between her milky white thighs.

Harley Quinn danced into the room her fingers crossed behind her back as she approached the swaying Batman. "Something wrong Bats," Harley turned to Carlos and gave him a wicked wink, "Best be on your way."

Carlos nodded though looked perplexed at the Batman's reaction to the girl, he wanted to stay to see his curiosity through and find out how one girl no matter how psychotic had suddenly gotten the Batman so confounded that he could hardly walk. "You have this?" he asked as he picked up his closed laptop.

Harley threw her arms around Batman's neck and pressed her naked body up against him, "Oh I certainly do."

Batman could feel the weight of her on his back, he pushed forward reaching out to one mahogany door his hand fumbling for a door knob he knew must be there somewhere. His mind was not his own, he fought it as it begged then demanded he turn around. His cock was a painful mass that worked against him. Harley ran a long finger nail down one of his cheeks and his nostrils flared at the sweet and sweaty smell of her. 

Harley gasped as one hand grabbed her naked thigh and she was momentarily airborne as Batman threw her off him she landed legs splayed onto the hard floor the under floor heating not doing much to warm her bare backside. She tensed waiting for a sudden attack by Batman but instead he stood there breathing heavy hands clutching either side of his mask. She rose slowly to her feet her eyes remaining on Batman as she did so, her smile widening with every inch she rose until her smile spread from ear to ear.

"What's wrong Bats, too hot to handle?" she mocked him, she turned to her side defensively as Batman reached into his belt and pulled out a small canister he lifted it the best he could before it dropped from his hands and rolled away. "Did I ever tell you how hot your suit makes me," she walked to the table and sat down opening her legs wide for Batman to see.

She ran her hand along the inside of her thigh up to her trimmed pubic bush and down, over her sex eliciting a shudder that rippled outwards across her body. She giggled as Batman forced himself to look away only to turn back again seconds later, his face was a mask of agony and ecstasy, he was fighting it but loosing. Harley dipped one black nail polished finger between her labia, her toned backside lifting momentarily from the table as she let out a low ragged breath, "So hot," she breathed out.

Batman moved forward, Harley's name burned in his mind, his cock begged for release, begged to be deep in Harley Quinn. Deep down Bruce Wayne fought it the best he could, every second he remained away from her was a victory only now his legs were moving of their own accord. He was atop of her in a few strides, "Stop it," he gasped teeth gritted together, the battle almost lost inside him.

"Sure thing Bats," Harley replied and slipped her sticky finger out and lifted it to Batman's mouth. His head pulled back, but slowly ever so slowly he moved forward his mouth opening with tortured effort and finally he black finger nail then the digit itself disappeared into his mouth. She gave a gasp as his teeth closed around her finger and for a moment she expected the worst, but his tongue flicked over her sticky digit tasting her sex there while his hands groped at her breasts, his gloves rough on her sensitive nipples making them stand erect and hard.

"What have you got for me Bats?" Harley asked and pulled her finger, though somewhat reluctantly from his mouth and with her other hand began to fumble at his belt. Batman stood rigid his hands still played with her breasts, one dropping to her now most and tingling sex, she accommodated by opening her legs wider and felt his thick gloved hand probing her, slipping into her as she finally found the chink in his armour.

The lower half of his suit peeled open almost like a Banana and Harley found herself being greeted by his thick cock as it finally sprang free of its tight confines. She took hold of it instantly, Her hand gripped the hot shaft and she felt it pulse in her grasp as she worked it back and forth matching the in and out thrust of his finger's inside her. The fur coat was making her hot to start with no all this action had turned her thermostat all the way into the red.

Harley had his attention, she knew she had to run now, get him to follow. It was a good distance from here to the Warehouse. To do it right here in the Mayor's office would be fantastic, but it would implement the Mayor himself and other questions would then arise putting Harley, Ivy and Carlos under a spotlight they would not be able to shake. Harley reached down with her free hand and reluctantly pulled Batman's hand away from her now on fire pussy, she let go of his cock at the same time climbing from the table. 

Batman grabbed her upper arms "No rough stuff Bats," she said only half-jokingly, but his grip did not relinquish instead he started to force her down, "Hey!" she said loudly but he continued until she was on her knees in front of him. His cock throbbed and twitched inches from her face, "You want to play do ya'?" she said and giggled, what harm would it do to have him craving for her more.

She took hold of his cock at its base, bigger than she knew the Joker's ever would be for her, and ran her tongue from ball to tip of shaft in one languid motion. As she reached the top she opened her red lipped mouth and slid his cock into her mouth. Harley took what she could and worked the rest with her hand, her other hand found its way beneath her and she slipped one then two fingers inside herself.

Carlos stood impatiently at the lift doors, he had spared too many looks over his shoulder, it had gone awfully quiet in the study but Batman had yet to appear, finally the bell dinged and the lift doors opened silently. Mayor Sebastian Garcia stood stock still like a zombie; he stared through Carlos into the middle distance. "Mayor Garcia," Carlos greeted with a tight smile and a hint of urgency in his voice.

Sebastian blinked then his eyes came into focus and found Carlos, "I went to the hospital, to see my wife."

Carlos moved his laptop to his other arm, his now free hand slowly slipping behind his back to the gun that was resting in his belt. "Is that so, and how is Simone?"

Sebastian nodded slowly, the rest of his body sagging but not moving, not allowing Carlos to enter the lift. "She wasn't there, just some other crazy woman."

Carlos' hand found the grip of the gun and began to slide it free. He spared a glance at the study something was going on in there, he was certain of it but not what. He needed to be away from this place, needed somewhere quiet to calm the buyers down. "I am sure she will return soon enough, now if you will excuse Mayor I have some important business to attend to."

Carlos made a move forward he was stopped by Sebastian who raised one hand suddenly and rested it on Carlos chest. "You don't understand, the crazy woman, looked just like Simone." Sebastian pushed and Carlos took a step back, "just like her," Sebastian gave a crazed smile, "I need that cure Carlos."

And there it was the object that had everyone worried. A cure that never truly existed but was desired by all, "I was just on my way to get it." Carlos said with ease, the gun was almost free from his belt. 

Sebastian shook his head, "No you were not, you were running!" the last word exploded out in a shout filled with shocking anger.

Carlos brought the gun around and fired one single shot into Sebastian's gut. The man staggered backwards, hand falling from Carlos' chest and groping at his stomach, his shirt blooming with an ever growing red flower. "Our contract seems to have been made null and void Mayor Garcia, good day to you." Carlos said and hurried into the vacant lift.

Harley felt his hands on her hand, taking handfuls of her blonde and red locks in tight fists and holding her head down, his hips thrusting forward feeding yet more of his cock into her unsuspecting mouth. She gave a cough and sputter as his cockhead nudged the back of her throat, instinctively she moved her back, trying to gain some breathing space but Batman forced her back and again pushed his cock further into her mouth.

Her hand pulled out from underneath her and now free she laid both hands on Batman's waist and pushed for all she was worth. The action caught Batman unawares he stumbled backwards taking a good amount of Harley's hair with him. Harley's scalp burned as she hacked and coughed, her stomach threatening to show her the meal she had consumed earlier that evening. She staggered to her feet just as Batman rushed at her, his cock glistening and bouncing as he came.

Harley swept one leg out and low and took Batman out at the shin's she moved just in time as his heavy frame fell forwards, landing with a sickening thud on the floor. Harley scrambled for the door a hand tried to close around one delicate pale ankle and she gave a back heel kick that connected with enough force to make Batman cry out, she turned half way through the living room. There was enough furniture between her and Batman that she felt safer, but there was still a job to do. "Come on Bats you going to finish what you started." She was surprised to see him walk from the study so suddenly the subdued lighting in the living room did not make him any less menacing. "Catch me if you can lover boy," she turned and darted for the bedroom, the French doors there would open onto a patio and from there she could access the rooftops.

Harley got to the doors and froze at the sight of the storm outside. She looked down at her naked frame, the fur coat the only thing on her, she pulled it close and did not feel anymore protected than when it was open for the world to see. Harley could hear Batman approaching, taking the direct route, pushing furniture out of his way rather than walk around it. 

Harley grabbed the door handles and swung them open, running through them and into the heavy rain and gusting wind, her hair was soaked through, the fur coat was soaked through and now heavy on her naked body. The weight of it made her mind up and she slinked it off tossing it aside, she shuddered as the cold rain pelted her body her skin becoming wet and slippery. She smiled as she saw The Bat in the doorway, menacing in his costume but very human in the way his cock was still protruding. Harley back flipped onto the marble wall, her body feeling so much lighter, She blew a kiss as Batman came after her then dropped down to the fire escape below.

Batman wanted Harley, he needed Harley. Harley was his only thought taking her was his only motive in this world. He did not care why she had stopped only that it needed to continue and for there to be more afterwards, he had touched her supple breasts and wanted to now to suckle on her hard pink nipples, he wanted to push her against a wall and drive his hard cock into her anus and have her whimper and groan for more. He followed her out into the night, the rain hammered down on him as she flew from the ledge, his head erupted with static and a frantic retort, "Sir are you there? Sir, answer me?" over and over.

But there was only one reply, "Harley," he said and raced to the ledge. 

Batman's body spasmed as pain erupted at his neck, his mouth filled with blood as he bit his tongue at the agony. The lenses of his mask flashed through all their programs, his radio gave out an ear splitting high ring and the hair on the nape of his neck became singed with the sudden rush of heat and electricity from the small grey box that sat pressed firmly against his neck. His body jigged for a few more seconds before he collapsed to the ground.

Boone Arboretum,

Batgirl had swung into action as she heard the unanswered response of an ever growing frantic Alfred through her receiver. It had all gone wrong for both Batgirl and Batman, Harley was not here that was now clear if it had been designed that way then Carlos and Ivy were one step ahead of them. But Klaus had been here at the Arboretum, perhaps a trade of sorts had taken place and sheer bad luck had led Batman right into Harley's clutches.

Ivy had walked off, completely uninterested in the demise of both Batgirl and Klaus. Batgirl had used all her batarangs in an act of stupidity and now she hammered with little result at the mutant vine. She spared a glance at the open maw of the plant, unreality washed over her as a song from the little shop of horrors intruded her downright terrified thoughts. Klaus struggled too, though more frantically as he was closest to death than Batgirl.

Klaus stopped fighting, his body went limp. He had given up she decided and hated the man for being so weak. That thought vanished as the man's eyes opened his face had become relaxed his eyes sure of their surroundings, he shook one lab coated arm and a small vial of the yellow liquid slipped out and it a sure hand. Batgirl thought she saw a trace of a smile when he glanced her way, a wink too perhaps but that was impossible wasn't it?

Klaus shook the vial, the yellow liquid becoming vibrant inside with the motion. He aimed and threw it directly into the waiting mouth. The plants mouth remained open, the vial too small to make a dent on its hunger it seemed. Klaus was dangling above the open maw when a scream that Batgirl and Klaus could hear only in their heads made them both reach up to their ears in a vain attempt to block it out, this was followed by a shudder that rippled through the plant from hungry maw to vine.  The vine holding Batgirl tightened considerably and she let out her own cry as she felt her ankle bone take the pressure almost snapping as the grip tightened even more.

The giant maw snapped shut an inch below Klaus Cannon then opened wide before snapping shut once more. When it opened again it stretched wide before vomiting forth dark liquid that sprayed Klaus from dangling head to toe. Batgirl watched in amazement  as the mottled green vines began to turn brown rapidly before her eyes, the brown gave way to black and her foot slipped loose of the dead vine dumping her onto the leave carpeted floor below. Klaus fell next, his body bouncing in the once pink, now bruised in colour maw and tumbling out of it.

All around them the vines that had made up the plant went from green to brown to black, wasting away before their eyes and turning to stinking mulch over the course of a minute. Other plants reacted with horror, recoiling away from the dying vines. Ivy came charging back in screaming her lungs out, tears streaming down her green cheeks as her baby danced its death.

Batgirl swung for her in a long arc catching her on one tear streaked cheek and sending her sprawling to the ground. "Go now front door and don't stop," she shouted to Klaus, the plant's screaming still ringing inside her head. Klaus nodded and he hurried off on all fours scrambling over dying vines or dodging the plant life that was trying to survive. 

The kick to Batgirls stomach pushed the air from her lungs in a loud "Omph!" and bent her double, Ivy was on her feet her tears still flowing but that was the only sign of sadness now as she bared her teeth and her eyes alight with anger. She clenched her fists together and brought them down hard onto the girl's neck dropping her to the ground. Ivy dropped onto her back straddling her and grabbed Batgirls head, "How. Dare. You!" she screamed and punctuated each word by slamming the girl's head down onto the now exposed concrete flooring.

Ivy looked up at the sudden movement that approached her. She processed the dirty lab coat at first then the ancient fire extinguisher that was in Klaus' hands, the realisation of what was about to happen was too late as the metal underside of the round container connected with the side of her head and sent her flying off the girl's body. 

Batgirl was lucky to be conscious still, had she been wearing her home made mask she had no doubt she would be unconscious or watching her brain being smeared across the ground. The new mask survived the attack but she was still shaken and disorientated. Klaus pulled her to her feet then pushed her towards the front door guiding her with a nudge in the back to avoid falling debris.

The rain felt good on the exposed parts of her face she spared a look skywards letting the rain wash over her, "Are you there Miss?" her receiver transmitted.

Batgirl nodded then realised what she had done and reached up to talk, "Yes I'm hear and so is Klaus."

Alfred sighed with relief, "Some good news atleast...I'm afraid we have another problem."

Klaus watched as Batgirl had a discussion with what appeared to be with herself at first before he realised she was talking to someone else, perhaps an ear piece he decided. He watched her eye's close with sadness a small shake of her head, "What do I do with Klaus in the meantime?"

Alfred had already planned ahead and the Batski Boat was already winding through the catacombs and sewers of Gotham City. "You need to go two blocks west, there is a large manhole cover the boat will be there, put him in and I can guide it back."

Batgirl glanced at Klaus, "He's conscious." She said and Klaus' eyes went wide.

"Not to worry, I will release some sleep gas into the cockpit before he gets here. Then I will secure him." The sleep gas was an anti-theft device that had yet to be fully tested and Alfred looked forward to seeing it in action. The smile on his thin lips faded as he returned to the more serious matter at hand. "The Mayor's apartment is some distance from you so be quick I will get the Bat wing to you as soon as you have made contact with him."

Ivy awoke to the sound of feet trampling around her. Her plants crying out at the injustice as the heavy boots stomped down. "You okay?" a voice asked her and nudged her in the back with what felt like the barrel of a gun. 

She turned and pushed the gun away from her, "I'm fine you idiot." She said then let out a hiss as she touched the cut and swollen lump on her head. The three remaining goons from Joker's stock stood around like morons, kicking at dead plant matter or nudging it with their guns. Their faces were hidden by grotesque clown masks but she doubted the faces beneath were anymore animated. 

"The Doc's gone," the closest man said. And Ivy sighed with amazement at how stupid they truly were. She stood up and wiped the tears from her cheeks, the goon next to her had a revolver wedged in the belt of his trousers she gave a single cheerless laugh when she noticed the safety was off. "What's so funny?" he demanded and took a step forward.

Ivy grabbed the revolver as she pushed the goon back. The first shot ripped a hole through his shoulder, blood and muscle erupting out of his back as the bullet passed through. She took down the second man with a lucky shot to the head, the third had started to sprint off and Ivy shot lazily taking him in the thigh and sent him in a screaming, crying mess to the floor. 

Ivy dropped the gun no longer interested in the fate of the men around her. She approached the solid iron door the remains of her baby still clung to it, the now black vines oozing mess down the frame. With her baby gone the door swung open easily.

The single bare bulb that hung from the ceiling had been smashed, as had most of the walls from what she could see with the dim light that streamed in from behind her. Someone moved in the dark, she could see shadows shifting as figure stood up, his body huge and muscular. "Hello Ivy," the man said from behind his mask.




The Batman: Downfall Ch. 07



"Your time has come to repay your debt."

The masked head cocked to one side, but the man stayed in his corner, "Debt? And what debt would that be?" he asked.

"Your timely release from Arkham," she replied and the man laughed loudly, "Did you not consider who got you from Black Gate to Arkham for a psyche evaluation just as one patient there required early release." The man's laughter came to a stop.

"Yes, most fortuitous indeed." Finally he stepped out of the shadows even without venom coursing through his system his physique was astounding. Bane held his arms out to his sides, "As you can see I am not at my best."

"I have what you need, but..." Carlos had managed to procure a good batch of Venom at Ivy's behest it was not a lot but enough to get the job done. 

"A debt must be paid as you said." Ivy stepped out of the tiny room and Bane followed ducking to get under the door frame as he went. He stretched out in the much larger room, he looked about him, the two dead men and one sprawled out and crying for help. Bane could smell death in the air and it invigorated him. 

Ivy held out one hand, a clump of red hair in her palm, Bane took it and sniffed at it like a dog, "Find her and make her pay."



The Batman: Downfall Ch. 08



Rooftops of Gotham,

"Where is he Alfred I cannot see him?" Batgirl shouted out over the pouring rain and heavy rumbles of thunder that followed each Blinding flash of lightening that lit up the city.

"Four hundred meters in front of you, surely you can see him by now?" Alfred responded back a little more tersely than he had wanted to. The main screen in the Bat cave was illuminated in a pale blue a map of the city that stretched across the screen, two tiny red dots were moving across it as he watched, one was Batman the other Batgirl.

The electric shock should have taken Batman out of the game for ten minutes if not longer instead and to Alfred's horror it had incapacitated him for only a couple minutes. It had caught Alfred unawares as Batman's tracker had started to move, albeit slowly. Alfred had called for Batgirl to hurry with putting Klaus in the Bat Ski. She had responded by unceremoniously pushing Klaus down the last few rungs of the sewer ladder letting him free fall a few feet into the ski before she climbed back out and gave chase.

"Alfred he's wearing black against black in the middle of a thunder storm..." Lighting lit the sky up and the rumble of thunder made the very ground that Batgirl stood on vibrate. But in that flash she had caught sight of a figure. "I have him,"

When Batgirl had arrived at the original location of the Mayor's apartment she verified what Alfred had said, Batman was on the move. She wasted no time in searching the Apartment, they had Klaus now and a cure, Carlos, Harley and Ivy could wait. Now that she had seen Batman she moved with more sure footing picking up her pace as she went. The rain tried to drive her back the wind hitting her full on as she cleared the gap between buildings. She gained ground quickly as Batman slipped and fell on unsteady legs then stood back up.

Batgirl cleared another roof then cut left following a row of higher buildings until she was above the stumbling figure below "Batman stop!" Batgirl yelled as she swung back down blocking his path.

She took no chances this time and was ready for a fight so when he swung a lazy haymaker at her she deflected it with ease responding with a kick to his stomach that sent him stumbling backwards. "Are we going to do this again?" she asked exasperated. 

"Get out of my way," Batman growled back, one hand dropping to his belt and he clumsily threw a single batarang. 

Batgirl ducked and rolled and Batman lurched forward to run from her but she swung a leg out taking Batman off his own. He landed on his back with a thud and he let out an animalistic cry. Batgirl sprang up and was momentarily startled when she realised Batman's suit was open, he had been crossing the rooftops of Gotham with his erect cock on display. The heat of the battle raged in her own sex as it always did when she took to the streets she tried to clear her mind, tried to gather her strength to hold Batman where he was and return him to the Bat cave.

Batman made to push himself up and Batgirl raced forward, she kicked him firmly in the chest, his arms going from underneath him with the force and without a moments thought she straddled him, pushing down with all her strength to hold him in place. "Snap out of it Bruce!" she shouted at him and delivered a stinging slap across his face.

Batman tried to resist her, he struggled beneath her but the next blow to his face was a punch that rocked his head to the side. "I need her," he whined then with sudden speed his arms shot up, his hands finding Batgirls throat, "I need it," he said through greeted teeth, blood from his nose oozing out and turning pink as the rain washed it away. 

Batgirl moved her hands between Batman's own and heaved them apart his grip on her throat pulling apart. His hands came back but this time they found her breasts, she gave a gasp at the unexpected grasp, though her suit and Kevlar was in the way and she barely felt a thing, the act itself was shocking enough. She pushed his arms away but they came back again, she felt him move beneath her, his hips lifting up followed by the nudge of his hard cock against her backside. 

Her own excitement was mixed with fear and anger, he did not want her not truthfully, he wanted Harley Quinn but just like Poison Ivy before her, Batgirl was ripe for the taking. She moved to get off him to put distance between them and get him the hell back to the Bat cave but her body moved down him instead, his cock pushing against her own crotch area as she positioned herself over it.

Her trembling hands found the clasps for her suit, she tore at them with gloved fingers the final few popping free as she pulled them apart with pent up agitation. Batman's hands cupped her small breasts and squeezed them painfully, she cried out and ground down on his cock her own sex aching to be free and used. 

Batgirl fumbled at Batman's belt, finding the small dispenser of Batarangs' she unclipped one, trying to concentrate as Batman's hands groped her breasts and pulled at her now rain slicked hard, pink nipples. With the batarang free she lifted herself slightly off his cock and with the sharp blade she sliced with worrying ease the fabric from her crotch.

When she lowered herself she shuddered at the heat of his cock as it pressed against her moist labia, the lips parting around his girth in a sticky hug. Batman grunted beneath her and pushed upwards his cock rain slick and hard slipping across her sex in his desperate attempt to gain access, Batgirl moved forward to try and hold Batman down and gave a gasp as his cock head found purchase and he slipped easily into her. 

Batgirl bit her lower lip as she felt him fill her up, his girth stretching her open more than the odd boy she had had back in her college days. She pushed back meeting his sporadic thrusts letting him go deeper still. Batman sat up his mouth bloody and wet found her pale pink nipples and suckled at them, a nip here and there eliciting a cry between the gasps and moans of Batgirl.

Batgirl knew from her experiences of her first few nights of being a vigilante that her orgasm would not be long in coming, and tonight was no different. She had sped up her own gyrations, pushing down onto Batman's cock and rotating her hips with each turn her clitoris sparked. Faster and faster she went until, back arched and one nipple clenched in between Batman's teeth she let out a long moan her body shaking as her orgasm sparked down below and travelled the length of her body.

The rain hammered her face and naked body, each falling raindrop making her gasp as it landed on her super sensitive skin. Her body slumped forward and Batman took her weight, his hand slipping from her breasts and finding her backside. Her gripped at her toned flesh as his cock renewed its exploration of Batgirl, his last thrust almost toppling Batgirl over as his balls tightened and his cock spasmed erupting thick cum deep inside her.

Batman gasped as his cock erupted inside the young woman, black spots burst in his vision and the lightning that flashed made her body stand out in stark relief, he collapsed backwards breathing heavy eyelids fluttering, the weight of Batgirl falling atop of him both bodies gasping for breath.

Harley Quinn began to slip from his mind again, she would always be there it seemed to him now but with his own sexual release the urge for her lessened, it became more obedient and allowed Batman to reign it in and tie it up for the time being. Caging it was never going to be possible. Batgirl rolled from his body and Batman sat up, he felt embarrassed at what had happened but also relief at who it was with. 

He had marvelled at Barbara Gordon from a distance, he had found Batgirl intriguing if not a little hot headed and impetuous. Bruce Wayne and Batman had shared the thought of having them both before tonight had happened, but both had agreed it would not work out. Yet now as he stood up and watched a silent and embarrassed Batgirl try and suit up both Bruce and Batman could find no reason why it could never work out.

'Stupid, stupid, stupid!' Batgirl said to herself over and over in her head, she had let her own emotions and the base ones at that get the better of her. It was bad enough the nights she had gone home and touched or toyed with herself, now she had crossed the line from her silly girlish fantasy into embarrassing reality. She spared a look at Batman as he stood up, his cock hanging limp, her sex and his own juices washing away in the rain. "That was stupid of me." She blurted out and cursed herself for saying it.

Batman re-suited the best he could before he answered Batgirl, "We live on a knife edge with what we do, some moments are meant to be and shared," he rested a hand on her shoulder forcing her to turn round and face him, "No matter how those moments come about, they could save a life."

Could Batgirl truly believe what he was saying, that perhaps whatever was afflicting Batman was only partly responsible for what happened, the rest was what? His attraction and lust for her? Could that be true? "I want to believe that you have no idea," if it was not for the rain, Batman would have been able to see the tears that now rolled down her face, "But until we have beaten this I cannot risk believing." She shrugged his hand off her shoulder and walked to the rooftop ledge and signalled Alfred to deploy the Bat Wing.

The Bat Cave,

Alfred had said the Batwing was more suited to an above ground runway the only problem was finding one they could keep as well hidden as the one that ran beneath the lake. Alfred lowered his hands from his ears as the engines cut out the air was thick with the smell of aviation fuel and the whining of the engines as they came to a stop. The Canopy was already open as he approached and Batgirl was making a quick exit, he noted the rip in her suit by her bottom and modestly looked away. 

Batman came down next and approached Alfred, "Is he here?" he asked.

Alfred nodded, "Yes he is and I have already put him in the secure lab," all three of them walked briskly along the gangplank paying no attention to the dizzying drop beneath them. "The knock out gas in the Bat ski works rather well might I add." Batman gave a small smile, "I must say the man has a propensity for wetting himself though," Batgirl had seen this for herself but she had also seen another side of Klaus Cannon too.

The Secure lab was only slightly larger than a deluxe jail sail at Black Gate, there was a single cot and an open toilet. The lab equipment along one wall was certainly something not found in Black Gate and the walls were made of photovoltaic glass. All three of them watched Klaus Cannon through one wall he sat hunched on the cot his head buried in his hands. "Alfred you stay here," Batman said then nodded to Batgirl, she nodded in return and they both entered the cell.

Klaus' head shot up the moment the door pulled open, his eyes wide behind his glasses as he stumbled to his own feet trying to distance himself from the two black figures that had just entered the well lit room. "I cannot do-o-o it, o-o-okay it is as s-s-simple as that, there was n-n-never a way." He said in a high pitched tone that shook with fear.

Batman came to a standstill giving the nervous man room to move, "I have seen your work, before you were shut down and locked up in Arkham, you had begun working on a cure."

Klaus shook his head violently, his glasses almost leaving his face, "Back at the arboretum, you were trying to work one out weren't you?" Batgirl said and took a step forward. Klaus moved to one side finding a corner of the room and pushing himself into it. "You said you didn't want to hurt anyone, you were trying to find a cure, only you did not want Poison Ivy or Axis finding out."

Klaus swallowed hard, his body sagged and he gave an almost imperceptible nod, "H-h-he w-w-would kill m-m-me,"

"That is not going to happen here Klaus, Phase two has started we only have a little time left for you to try and help save twenty odd people." Batgirl was only a step away from him now, the smell of the man's urine almost overwhelming this close. She felt Batman tense up behind her when she had mentioned Phase two she was disappointed to think that he had perhaps hoped she would not have worked out the timeline for Batch #32.

"I c-c-can try," Klaus whispered.

They watched him for about an hour from behind the photovoltaic glass he worked in fluid, sure movements that did not match the man's speech or actions, Batgirl could see the cogs turning in Batman's head something was not adding up for him either. Finally they left Klaus to his work, Alfred had numerous cameras in there and the most sensitive toxin sensors in place too just in case Klaus decided to take things a little too far. "Good work getting him," Batman said as all three of them retired from the cell and headed for the main platform of the Bat cave.

Batgirl pulled her cowl off "The mask worked well," Alfred winced at the wicked lump just below her hairline on her forehead. "Ivy had us, believe it or not if it was not for Klaus we both would have been dead," Barbara recounted her little adventure into Boone Arboretum, Batman making mental notes and Alfred offering his own little nod and 'bravo' at the end. "He did more damage to her than I could have done."

Batman re-counted his own tale as he slipped off his gloves then his own mask. As he began to wipe the grime and blood from his face he reached Harley and skipped the more lurid bits, but informed his listeners that he could only remember partial bits once he had seen Harley Quinn, "It feels like a fever dream, the more I try and focus on it the more blurred and disjointed it becomes."

"And your little module did not work as we had planned." Alfred added.

Bruce shrugged, "it worked better than it should have. It slowed me down otherwise I would have followed Harley to the end of the world if that's what it took." Bruce spared a glance at Barbara who quickly looked away and busied herself with drying her rain soaked red hair. 

Now it was Alfred's turn, he seemed apprehensive to start with aware that both Bruce and Barbara had someone they cared for deeply in the secure ward, but he could not hide what they undoubtable knew, "Phase two has started," he said bluntly he paused as Barbara took a shuddery breath at the news, she nodded for Alfred to continue, "Oracle has managed to give me a sketchy image of what has happened, a lot of blood, a lot of violence and death."

Bruce stood rigid and Barbara dropped her towel, "Selina is fine as is Commissioner Gordon," Alfred continued, " a lot of the information is from supposed eye witnesses and riot police that were present, but it seems heavy sedation is having some effect and all remaining patients have been strapped down." 

Bruce's shoulders sagged and he offered a silent prayer. Barbara unbeknownst to the two of them offered the same thankful prayer for her father. Alfred remained quite letting them both have their moment of ease, "There is another matter that has arisen," He said and got both Bruce and Barbara's attention straight away, "The police were called to the Mayor's home, he was found dead at the scene, bullet wound to the abdomen."

"Carlos," Bruce said, and thumped a fist down hard on a table, "He is cutting his loses, something's gone wrong."

"Maybe Batch thirty two was meant to work differently this time, more stable?" Barbara offered.

Bruce nodded in agreement, "And we have the man who can tell us."

"He's hiding something too" Barbara said and Bruce looked at her questioningly, "Back at the arboretum when we were caught, he changed. Became calm, controlled he even smiled at me before he threw that vial."

Though he hated to do it, Bruce slipped his cowl back on. His neck ached from wearing it already and the sweaty confines made his air dried skin itchy. He entered the cell at a pace giving Klaus no time to turn and flee, he grabbed him instead and threw him against one darkened window that shook with the force of the throw. "No more games," Batman bellowed.

"I-I-I d-d-don't know w-w-what you m-m-mean," Klaus sputtered from the ground, his trousers front hardly dry from wetting himself earlier darkened once more.

Batman powered forward and picked the man up slamming him against the glass, "This might have saved you at Arkham or with Ivy but it is not going to work with me."

The look of panic and horror on the man's face slipped. It was if it had been a mask made of flimsy gauze that blew away on the wind, the eyes that darted this way and that settled and became focused and when he spoke there was no hint of a stutter, "You have no idea what it was like in Arkham."

Batman leaned in, "You would be surprised."

Klaus could see it in the Batman's eyes he had seen Arkham, had put most of its visitors in there, and perhaps even stayed there himself at some point. "This Klaus Cannon would have been eaten alive, but s-s-stuttering fool K-k-Klaus? He was made fun of, roughed up now and then but they got bored of that Klaus very quickly. Once you wet yourself a couple of times it becomes easier to do, I repulsed them and bored them, even the guards forgot about me."

"Then one night in comes Harley Quinn," The name made Batman flinch and Klaus had an idea why, but that could wait, he needed to get out of this in one piece if possible, "takes me from Arkham and drops me into a far worse mad house. Ivy pitied me saw me as weak as she does most men. Carlos, he took great amusement in how far I had fallen. It amazed me that not one them thought it was all an act they were so deluded in themselves."

"So you kept the act going?" Batman said and Klaus shrugged and nodded, "tell me about Batch thirty two?"

"About the time we reached generation twenty eight of it I began to work on a cure. Nothing worked, not for long anyway. Once it was in your system that was it basically, I came close though. Two days after Carlos shut down the project I was a happy man, he had seen sense and we could move on. Only, that wasn't the case. Two of my colleagues got transferred, on their way the plane they were on took a nose dive. Another colleague, head on car crash on the freeway." Batman loosened his grip on Klaus letting them man move freely as he spoke.

Klaus walked over to the laboratory table, he picked up a small test tube, the top wedged closed with a cork and held it out to Batman, "The last known quantity of Batch thirty two," Batman took it and looked at the liquid. It was almost clear with just a shade of purple. "Carlos needed me, he put me in Arkham to teach me a lesson."

"What lesson?" Batman asked and reluctantly handed the test tube back.

"That he is in control." Klaus took the tube and put it back in its stand, "This new batch the one that got released at the town hall, it is almost perfect the swelling of the brain is the only problem. The last cure dealt with that but caused massive internal bleeding,"

"Are you telling me there is no cure?"

Klaus shook his head as he spoke, "Not one that works," He turned back to the equipment and flicked a row of switches.

"You have forty eight hours to find one." Batman said, his thoughts drifting to Selina Kyle.

Klaus turned back, "No, we have less than that maybe fifteen, eighteen max. Beyond that there is no kill switch, no miracle cure. It should never have been discovered you know? It should have stayed dormant in the rain forests until mankind was wiped from this planet. I am sorry what it has done to those people, but I was selfish enough to put my own wellbeing above theirs, atleast this way you have someone who is willing to help right the wrong."

Boone Arboretum,

Carlos was jittery on the inside, on the outside though he still exuded charm and control. He was ready to head to the Airport and from there, anywhere that was not American soil. All he needed was Klaus and he could begin on Batch #33. In the back seat of the Mayor's limousine he watched the bidding on Batch Thirty two he cursed to himself numerous times as bidders dropped to the wayside, 'When did terrorists become humanitarians' Carlos thought to himself. 




The Batman: Downfall Ch. 08



Why could they not understand that a cure was just around the corner if they gave it enough time? Three had agreed with him and so the bidding continued though at a considerable drop in price, but without Sebastian Garcia around for his cut, Carlos could weather that little fact. 

The rain storm had moved on, the tall buildings that rose above Gotham blocking out the lightning flashes that lit up the southern horizon. And when Carlos stepped out of the car he had no need of an umbrella, his Italian shoes skipped around puddles as he crossed into the grounds of the Arboretum. He paused as he surveyed the scene, wild growth had diminished to dead black lumps and withered branches and Carlos gave a satisfied smiled at this, though it did not last long when his brain informed him that perhaps Klaus was no longer here.

The domed glass ceiling that made up the great hot house, was almost covered with vines and creepers when Carlos had first arrived was now visible. Cracked and shattered windows allowed the run off of the rain to fall indoors, a sputtering waterfall that surrounded the kneeling figure of Poison Ivy. Carlos could hear her weeping softly, most of the vegetation throughout the Arboretum appeared now to be dead or dying. "Where is Klaus?" Carlos called out as he approached, stopping inches from the makeshift waterfall.

Ivy looked up, her eyes puffy her skin once pale green now blotchy with red marks her hair in disarray as if she had been pulling at it like a mad woman. "You did this?" she spat at the man.

Carlos shook his head as he looked around, "This is not my doing Ivy, perhaps if you had heeded my advice and allowed Klaus to come with me this would never have happened." not right away he wanted to add but bit his tongue.

Klaus had agreed to work on a poison, which he discovered was easy to do even under the watchful eye of Poison Ivy. He had reported to Carlos that it was ready and Carlos had told him to keep it under wraps until their little experiment was completed. Then Carlos would make Ivy pay for her insubordination. "I will ask again, where is Klaus Cannon?"

Ivy stood up, her unitard ripped and dirty, even the leaves on this seemed to have withered and died exposing the body beneath, her perfectly manicured nails now bitten and broken down to the quick, "He's gone you idiot, Batgirl has him."

That was not what Carlos wanted to hear, if he had fled on his own that would be one thing. But now Batgirl and possibly Batman had him. No doubt the last of Batch #32 went with Klaus the only man who knew how to replicate it. "My buyers will not be happy." Carlos said more to himself than to Ivy. Without a viable product the sale was as good as dead, he did not dare continue with the auction without Klaus. "Then our working together has come to a close," He nodded at Ivy, "Good day."

Ivy watched, her mouth open as Carlos turned and began to walk away. She let out a scream of anguish and rushed forward. The waterfall drenched her as she sped through never slowing down, she was three steps from Carlos when he spun around, she saw the glint of metal in his right hand before the clap of thunder roared and she fell to the ground.

Carlos smirked 'How easy it is to kill in Gotham City.' He mused as he slipped the gun into his jacket pocket, the barrel still hot. He reached into his inside pocket and withdrew his mobile phone. He dialled the number by memory. It rung twice then connected, there was no friendly greeting simply silence, "It's me, stop the auction, apologise to our friends...no, no reason." He hung up and put the phone away. Ivy was still breathing her back lifted and fell with ragged breaths, a slow death it would seem. 

Carlos turned and walked away dodging the piles of blackened mulch that covered the ground, his nose wrinkled at the smell that now seemed to permeate the air. He had reached the door when he heard the laughter from behind he sighed and drew the gun. Perhaps killing in Gotham was not that easy after all.

Ivy was stood up, one hand clutching at her ribs on the left side, her green skin and tattered unitard red and getting redder and spreading as the wound leaked. "Going so fast," Ivy jeered.

Carlos lifted the gun he had three bullets left enough to finish the job. His finger squeezed the trigger just as the gun was lifted from him. One creeper brown and withered lifted it into the air out of his reach, he stared in surprise at it before realising the danger he had so foolishly walked into, he tried to turn but one leg was held fast by another creeper, just as withered and mottled but it's strength still alarmingly undiminished. He flipped upside down as the creeper lifted him bodily into the air, the contents of his pockets spilling out into the mulch beneath him as another creeper took hold of his flailing leg. Carlos thrashed at the creeper on his leg, beating at it with his hands, the mottled skin splitting but refusing to let go. His next swing was cut midway through as two more creepers wrapped with vicious strength from wrist to shoulder of both arms.

Ivy walked over to him, lurching with the pain in her side, her smile turning to a sneer to a grimace and back to a smile with each step until she came to a stop a foot from him. "I am woman, hear me roar."

Carlos saw a light in her eyes, a subtle glance in one direction a command given though one his ears or mind could not hear. The creepers tightened and then pulled in opposite directions. Carlos felt his core being pulled the skin pulling tight then splitting, muscles giving out and disks slipping as the creepers pulled harder still. He managed a scream before he was ripped in two.

The Bat Cave,

Alfred had left the Bat cave, he had to escape he told them as much when both Bruce and then Barbara had dismissed sleep, even the hidden pills in their tea and coffee were detected by both. They both now sat at the computer terminal watching for news, they were in the hands of Klaus Cannon now and there was nothing they could do to help there so instead they focused on Ivy and Quinn.

They had mapped Harley's last sighting at the Mayors home and with the help of Oracle they had managed to pick up Police dispatch reports on a naked woman running through the streets of Gotham. With this detail her path was plotted and it all went to the same place, "The warehouse district again." Barbara said.

"Whatever they are planning needs me at the warehouse, but the question remains what for?" Bruce said as he sniffed at his coffee, detecting nothing more than coffee, milk and sugar he took a sip.

"Ivy said she wanted the world to see you for what you truly were," Barbara said, she sat at one terminal, she had an old pair of jogging bottoms on as she sewed up the rip she had made earlier. Neither of them had mentioned the rooftop, secretly they had both kept Alfred around so that they would not have to. But with him gone, that need not to talk about it had continued to grow until it had passed the point of reasonable discussion.

"Sex," Bruce muttered and Barbara slipped with her needle, her knee's shaking at the word and her heart skipped a beat. "I see Harley and all I want is her, but it's not just that. Really all I want is sex, on the roof..." he trailed off.

Barbara could tell he was just as embarrassed and unsure about what had happened there as she was, "We had, sex, and then..."

"I became myself again, well almost," Bruce replied and tapped the side of his head. Harley Quinn was floating around in there and the lack of sleep meant his psychic walls had crumbled and she was slowly creeping to the forefront of his thoughts. "What am I really?" he asked.

Barbara smirked, "Billionaire Playboy."

Bruce nodded and gave his own easy smile back, "Let's hope Ivy doesn't know that. What I am is a living breathing human being, a man." His brow knitted together, "in Ivy's eyes all that man does make war, death and procreate."

Barbara could see where it was going, "Well you deal enough violence and death. She's just never seen you procreate, well not until the night before. What if the whole world knew it..."

"...What if the whole world saw it," Bruce finished her sentence, "What would the whole world think of Batman making out with a known criminal someone like Harley Quinn?"

There was banging on the door of the cell come laboratory, they could both just make out the muffled repeated cry of "hey, hello." 

It took them a few minutes to slip into their suits, Batgirl still slipped out of view to dress and when she came back out Batman was stood waiting impatiently for her, "Make up is a bitch you know." Batgirl replied to the annoyed look of Batman.

Klaus Cannon held up a test tube, the liquid inside red with a hint of blue. Batman took hold of it and looked questioningly at Klaus. "It took some fine tuning, but it was the enzyme breakdown I was overlooking, it masks its co-efficiency but when you cross..." he licked his lips then apologised, "Sorry a little wired. Without fully testing it I cannot say one hundred percent that it will have no side effects," He looked at the hello kitty watch on his wrist that Batgirl had given him to time the machines and also to remind him how little time they had left, "But we are out of time it is now or never."

Batman held Selina Kyles cure in his hand, the man before him was a slippery customer he had play acted and created the toxin that was killing Selina, but now he had made a cure. If it failed there would be nowhere for the man to run, Klaus was trapped in the lair of the Bat and Batman would make him pay if Selina died. 

Both Batman and Batgirl left the cell, Klaus had tried to follow but he was quickly pushed back inside and the door firmly locked, his cries for help now muffled. Batman headed directly for the Batmobile, he stopped in his tracks as Batgirl stepped in front of him, "You cannot go."

"I am not going," Batman replied and handed the test tube to Batgirl, "There will be armed police there most of them will shoot me on sight, but not you."

"Just what I was thinking," Batgirl responded as she took the vial, though she seemed a little less certain about the Police not opening fire on her. She recited exactly what Klaus had told them about the cure to which Batman nodded in agreement, she had not slipped up. "What are you going to be doing while I am away?"

Batman turned his head back to the photovoltaic cell, "Having a word with our good friend."

Gotham General,

Officer Bart Fennick had been on shift since six that morning it was well into one in the afternoon now and he had yet to get any food into his belly. His stomach grumbled just to make its own point of agreement. Ever since the patients had gone crazy it was proving difficult to find a cop to volunteer, rumours of whatever it was catching was spreading through the GCPD like wild fire. Fennick had volunteered out of respect of Jim Gordon and his daughter. Fennick had managed to get three others to volunteer before the Captain blindly pointed to three more to join them.

The only thing that made standing around by the elevator interesting for Fennick was the head nurse up here on Floor five. She sent the younger nurses running and one or two of the doctors as well, but to Fennick she was the prettiest and most down to earth lady he had ever met. "Afternoon Nurse Calver," he offered to her now as she walked on past.

He smiled as her usual stern features smoothed out and a cautious smile crossed her uncoloured lips, "officer Fennick," she replied back with a curt nod then turned her attention to a nurse that stuck to her right side like glue.

"Not in this life time Fennick," Officer Jackson said lazily back. 

The younger officer had no taste Fennick had decided earlier in the day, but atleast he had volunteered for the job. "Just you wait and see," he said in a sly tone, and both men laughed.

The elevator door pinged and both men turned around, "ID please," Fennick said in a monotone, I have said this a hundred times before voice. The woman in the lift was not the usual nurse or visitor, her black outfit and pointy ears being the dead giveaway. "Jesus!" he exclaimed and pulled his service revolver from his holster.

Batgirl had sat in the Bat ski like a passenger as Batman controlled it remotely from back in the Bat cave. The decision to turn up in broad daylight outside of Gotham General in the Batmobile had been quickly quashed when they had both realised the time and how much press still lingered around the hospital. 

The journey had taken Barbara on a journey into the unknown, she had seen Gotham from a new perspective, the ancient sewer ways were one thing, the large catacombs many of them lined with intricate pillars and steps was something else and Barbara made a mental note that if she got out of this alive, Oracle would be building a map of the sewer system next.

Once under the hospital she had found the old outlet near the morgue, she had popped through into a deserted storage room and from there into the corridors. The lift, with the help of a little override box that Batman had given her allowed her to go straight up to the fifth floor. It was an interesting approach to directly walk into the Lion's den rather than the caped crusader's approach of stealth and secrecy. As the lift reached the fifth floor and pinged, Batgirl raised her hands with palms open.

"Jesus!" the fat cop exclaimed and wrestled with his gun from its holster, the other officer much younger had pulled his own service piece free in fluid, quick motion. "Freeze Batman," the fat cop said finally getting his gun up.

The younger cop pointed his gun down, "Easy Fennick that isn't Batman, unless he changed gender."

Fennick kept his eyes on Batgirl and looked her up and down, "Well she's an accomplice and that means we take her in Jackson."

Batgirl swallowed hard, "Do that if you have to officer but first I have something to deliver." She took a deep breath and stepped out of the elevator compartment hands still up.

Fennick almost fell backwards as she stepped out Jackson on the other hand took a step to the side his gun now pointed directly at the ground. The older cop probably had seniority but the younger one was more level headed, "Officer we do not have much time I need to see the doctor in charge of the patients."

"Like hell you do," Fennick stammered.

Jackson looked at Fennick "Be quiet will you," he turned his attention back to the woman his look conveying the embarrassment at the actions of the older officer.

Batgirl followed Jackson, about her work abruptly stopped as doctors, nurses even patients watched with wide eyes and slack jaws at the woman who now strode down their clean white corridors. The closer she got to the ward the more her apprehension built, she had been here as Barbara Gordon now she was here as Batgirl, what was she going to see beyond those doors? Would she break down at the sight of her father? What would she do if he were dead already?

The two officers at the ward doors, raised their snub nosed machine guns, "Not a chance Jackson, we take her in for questioning," The cop on the left said.

"Damn it Billy she's on our side," Jackson responded and Billy shook his head firmly.

Batgirl reached to her belt and unclipped a silver box, she heard the safety's on both machine guns slip and slowed her actions, "Look at me," she said as calmly as possible and lifted the box to eye level, she slipped it open and revealed the vial inside. "It's a cure,"

Another five minutes had gone by before a doctor had come out to hear what the shouting was about, he took one look at Batgirl before registering what she was wearing and who she was, he had taken charge at what she had said and frog marched her into the ward, Officer Jackson in tow.

Barbara tried not to react to what she was seeing. The glass was doing a poor job of dampening the noise of so many people screaming. Thick and heavy looking straps held each patient to their beds, across their foreheads, chests, legs, arms and wrists. Blood was being cleaned from them as was possible from a screaming lunatic. 

Batgirl found her father, his eyes wide, bulging from their sockets, his moustache a deep red from blood that was oozing from his nose she looked away hoping that she did not cry. "It keeps getting worse, every hour, the tranquilizers have no effect which means cannot even do scans anymore," the doctor shrugged, "But we don't need to, look at their skulls." Batgirl closed her eyes then looked once more, she could see where the cranium on some of them had begun to swell and these patients screamed and cried the most. "Whatever you have cannot be any worse than what they are going through right now."

Batgirl handed the silver case over, "There is enough for all of them it requires 5 cc's directly into the cranium," she spared a look at her father, perhaps her last, "and a prayer."

The doctor took the case with an easy smile of gratitude, "You will always find this hospital open for you and Batman," he said it then spared a look at the officer.

Jackson smiled, "Don't worry about me; I know who the true heroes of this city are." As Batgirl made to exit Jackson directed her in the opposite direction, the officers here were just as alarmed as the others, but seemed to share the same understanding as Jackson, Batgirl smiled and cringed as one of the officers mumbled "Thank you ma'am."

"This is Officer Jackson badge one seven four two, doing a quick survey of fire escape," Jackson said into his radio, the reply came back quickly. He pushed the handle and the door swung open, "Straight down, the morgue is second from last floor."

Batgirl hit the sewer and found the Bat ski still waiting for her, finally she broke radio silence, "It's done, they have it." She said her voice shaking with adrenaline and fear.

"Good work," Batman replied. "Now go home and get some sleep, all we can do now is wait."

Batgirl shook her head, "No bring me back we can plan the next stage, figure out how to deal with whatever is going on in your head." She climbed in and pulled the canopy shut.

"No need, not yet anyway. Klaus is asleep and I am dead on my feet," There was a long silence then, "You did good Barbara."

Barbara Gordon's Apartment,

Barbara awoke to the sound of her mobile phone she pushed a tangled mess of red hair from her ear and held the phone up, "Hello?" 

"It's me," Bruce said his voice cheerful, "Have you seen the news?"

Barbara looked at her bedside cabinet her digital clock showed her it was a little after seven in the morning, "No, what's happened?" she tried to do the maths and figured she had slept the afternoon and night away in one go.

"It worked." Bruce had filled her in quickly on the sketchy news reports that were coming in, but apparently a cure had finally been found and administered with positive effects. "Go see your dad then get here as quickly as you can we have a lot of work to do."

Barbara leapt from her bed stumbling for a moment on the discarded Batgirl costume at the foot of her bed before regaining her balance. She had slipped from the outfit and had climbed into bed naked and exhausted. Now she picked up a grubby pair of old panties and slipped them on followed by a once white, now off white simple tank top. She almost danced into the living room and flicked her small television on. What Bruce had told her was confirmed on the screen and she gave out a girlish scream of excitement when Batgirl was thanked by the doctor who had trusted her. 

She picked up her landline and called the hospital, she had given her name to the operator who put her through to the ward, "Miss Gordon, I take it you have heard the news." They explained that they had injected her father and the others one at a time and the effect was alarming. Heart rate and blood pressure had dropped to within normal limits. Breathing had become less laboured and they had noted a few hours later that the swelling in the craniums had appeared to have subsided, "We still need to run a CT scan though so please bear with us. Whatever was in that cure put them all out cold, their bodies need the rest."




The Batman: Downfall Ch. 08



Barbara hung up and her excitement and relief brought on tears she had been holding back, she went to the kitchen and shuddered at how cold it was in there, she opened the fridge and grabbed the orange juice. It was only when she closed the fridge door did she see the window wide open. Her first thought was that she had opened it the day before and had forgotten about it. She reached up and pulled it down with some effort, the wood squealing in its frame as she did so, it landed with a thump and she reached to flick the latch, only the latch was missing.

The window had been forced up, lifting the latch and its rusty screws from their home. Barbara found them lying near her small waste bin. Instinct made her grab the chopping knife from her knife block, with just her panties and tank top on she had left her mobile phone in the bedroom, her main landline was in the living room and closer.

Barbara peered round the door frame the knife down at her side, nothing moved and the only sound was from the television. Barbara slipped around the door frame keeping her back to the wall as she tip toed the few feet down the corridor to the living room. The shadow that fell on her from behind was monstrous and engulfing, Barbara turned bringing the knife up and slashing it sideways as she did so. 

A Hand, huge and powerful grabbed her wrist snapping it with ease, the knife dropping free and sticking in the worn carpet. Barbara looked up and saw the half masked face before the punch sent her flying into the living room. Barbara stumbled backwards, falling over her settee and landing in a heap on the floor. She caught her bearings and rolled sideways finding her feet and getting up her one good hand bunched into a fist in front of her.

Bane stood in the doorway of the living room, his immense bulk blocking the entire frame his head skimming the ceiling above. He clapped slowly, "Impressive acrobatics," he said, his voice muffled by the tweaked and crazy Luchador mask he wore. "Though it will not save you from what is to come." His arms fell to his side, thumbs finding the loops in his jeans. "It seemed such a pity to wake you last night. I enjoy watching a naked girl sleep as much as the next man but that was not my main reason." Bane moved from the door, he walked slowly towards Barbara who moved sideways keeping as much distance between them as possible, "I thought it would be best to let you have a good night's sleep as it will be the only one you will ever have after today. The one you will remember when you wake from the nightmare you are about to endure."

Bane moved with speed, he crossed the space between himself and Barbara as if nothing was in his way, the coffee table splintered and fell apart under his heavy feet, the settee upturned as he pushed it aside. By the time Barbara's mind had woken to the reality of what was coming and screamed for her to run he was on top of her. 

Bane grabbed the broken wrist again, squeezing just enough to bring Barbara Gordon to her knees. He lifted her up until her bare feet dangled a few inches above the carpet. She stared into the blank stare of the mask, wanting to see what was beneath. She tried to snatch at it but her hand was batted away, when she tried again he flung her across the room, her body hitting the wall and smashing a picture frame that hung there. "Unlike you Barbara I prefer not to be unmasked."

Bane took her by the throat and lifted her with one hand. With his free hand he tore the tank top from her body. "Supple and toned," Bane said with admiration as his hand ran across her stomach and up to her small breasts, Barbara yelped as one meaty finger and thumb closed around one nipple and Bane gave a rasping laugh. The hand turned to a fist and he delivered a punch to her body that gave out a sickening sound of ribs snapping. "But weak. A disappointment."

Barbara found some strength hidden beneath the terror that was now consuming her. She punched with all her might at Bane's masked face but the two blows made no difference to the grip around her throat. She clawed at his face, her nails finding the fabric and tearing at it. One mad eye stared at her from the rip, the skin around it scarred and ruined. Bane punched again this time in her face, letting her crumple to the floor. 

Bane turned his back on her reaching up and touching the torn surface of his mask, he could see his reflection in the window could see his disfigured face for the entire world to see and knew that Barbara Gordon was laughing at him now, laughing at his weak flesh. The sharp pain in his side made him cry out in surprise and he looked down to find the kitchen knife buried just beneath his ribcage. When Bane turned around Barbara struck him across his face with one pastel pink dumb bell. He fell back his body resting on the upturned settee and Barbara made a dizzying run for her front door.

Her breath was ragged as her broken ribs jabbed into her lungs, her mouth was missing a few teeth and her breath came in whistling gulps or bloody sputters as she ran. One eye had already swollen shut lending a crazed altered perspective of the short hall way and with her one good hand she reached out to a door handle she cried out in despair as her hand closed on thin air the door was still a few feet away. A few more steps and she ran into the door, her hand scrambled for the handle and she took a deep breath ready to screams as she yanked the door open. Her hair pulled tight as Bane took hold of it, her scream was short as he pulled her back in slamming the door shut with his other hand.

Bane picked her up in a bear hug, her naked body pressed against his upper body, his heat and sweat making her cringe and feel sick as he carried her, "Enough fore play." He said as he ducked to get through the doorway into her bedroom. He threw onto the bedstead like a ragdoll and pinned her down, his huge hand pressing down on her small breasts. Her panties like her tank top earlier were torn free, Bane lifted them to his face and he sniffed at them, "Fear is such a wonderful scent on a woman."

Barbara watched as Bane worked at his jean's she had felt the bulk of him down there as he had carried her and it had filled her mind with terror, now she wept as it finally came free. Whatever vile concoction flowed through Bane had mutated him wholly. His cock was a huge thick throbbing slab of meat, veins stuck out across the surface and his cock head was a dark, angry purple bell. She winced at the feel of it on her sex, he nudged at her gently as if nervous then she gasped as he pushed forward with more determination. 

She felt as if he were pulling her apart down there, he went as far as he could her sex refused to loosen up and become moist for him, but with each painful thrust, her sex became more aroused. He stretched her wide with his girth and his cock drove deep into her filling her up. His one huge hand still held her down by her breasts the other held one leg painfully down as he continued to drive into her. Bane's own wound bled slowly down his now bare body and legs, but went unnoticed by him as he continued.

Barbara felt a moment of relief as he pulled himself free of her, his weight lifted from her and she took a lungful of air in. Her sex ached from him and her body spasmed even though she felt exhausted and weak from the broken bones in her body. "Don't worry I am not done yet." Bane said mockingly and with little effort flipped her onto her stomach. She felt the air in her lungs rush out of her as his heavy frame lay on top of her, one lung burned and popped as a rib finally found a weak spot. Without any care Bane guided his cock back to her ruined sex and continued. 

Bane had known pleasure before, many years ago he had taken great delight in moments like this and yes like Barbara they had all been willing. But that little wonder drug Venom had changed Bane for the better in more ways than one. And now as he drove his cock into Barbara Gordon he could not help but be thankful that it had mutated his cock into such a wonderful machine that allowed him to fill up and pleasure a young lady like Barbara Gordon.

He sped up now, his own breath becoming laboured with the effort. Once more he pulled free and once more with little effort flipped Barbara back over. Consciousness was ebbing, she coughed and blood hiccupped from her mouth, Bane stood over her, his slick, blooded cock in one hand as he worked it back and forth. "Something...to remember...me by." He said in staggered breaths, he gave a deep guttural grunt and his hips bucked forward. His cum erupted forth in a warm torrent that splashed across her face and chest. Huge gobs of the sticky substance coated her small breasts within a few spurts.

Bane took his time in putting his cock away, he watched Barbara with a sense of curiosity, his head cocked to one side watching her ragged breathing, "A fighter!" he exclaimed and then nodded as if it was expected. He knelt down by her and ran a hand through his now cold semen rubbing it into her breasts and nipples he chuckled as they firmed up to his sticky touch. Her ringing mobile brought him out of his revelry. 

He went to leave the room but came back, he reached over to the beside cabinet and grabbed the phone that looked tiny in his hand and placed it in Barbara's one good hand he dialled the three digits for her, "Let the nightmares commence." He said chuckling to himself as he left.



The Batman: Downfall Ch. 09



The Bat Cave,

Bruce had told Barbara to get some sleep and Alfred had told Bruce to do the same thing...but Bruce had decided on a different course of action. His talk a little while ago with Klaus had enlightened him and filled him with sick dread at what was to come if the Batman were to truly finish this madness. The talk had left him exhausted and Bruce had slipped into a disturbed sleep in front of the large computer terminal.

In Bruce's fractured mind reality and dream entwined and mixed, he watched his parents shot, slow motion and vivid in colour. His childish breath fogging in the cold air as his parents last breath did the same expelling from cold lips and stretching in a billowing cloud towards the sky, twisting and turning taking on forms as they went. The mad face of Joker peered through the fog, laughing at the now teenaged Bruce Wayne, now the penguin was there, a smug smile on his fat cheeks as the fog drifted higher and expanded. 

Poison Ivy leered forth, first her face then her body breaking free of the main fog, drifting downwards and wrapping herself around the now adult Bruce Wayne, her ghost hands found his arms, his chest, his cock, her lips planting ice cold kisses on his cheeks and lips. Ivy began to hum a soft melody 'Dream a little dream of me,' as her kisses rained down, now Ivy was gone and Harley Quinn was before him, her hands everywhere finding pockets of flesh and muscle to tease with her kisses as she moved up and down his naked body.

"Come get me lover boy," Harley said, but it was not her voice, she spoke again and her hair turned from blonde to red, her lips thinning out as Barbara Gordon came forward. "Come fuck me," Barbara purred, her lips parted as she leaned in for a deep kiss and Bruce recoiled in horror. Barbara's teeth were gone, replaced with long sharp needles that dripped a vicious looking liquid. Barbara's grip was impossible to break. Bruce felt the cold, dead lips on his and cried out as she bit down hard on his bottom lip.

Bruce started in his chair a cold cup of coffee went flying as his arms flew out pushing away the dream assailant. He looked around the gloomy Bat cave and found himself alone. He rubbed at his eyes and wiped the tears from his cheeks. He blinked to clear his vision and took deep shuddering breaths to calm a heart that pounded in his chest. He focused on the screen before him a quick check showed him Klaus Canon asleep on his cot, Oracle was working away by itself monitoring outgoing calls as well as internal and external emails from Gotham General. If what Klaus had made really did work then Bruce would know about it almost instantaneously. Bruce checked the time next it was a little before dawn and he calculated that he had slept for atleast six hours though he felt more drained now than before.

Bruce lingered in the shower, letting the hot water work his aching and tired muscles, he closed his eyes and willed the water to take his doubts and dreams from him but they clung on with determination, what was coming, what was inevitable could no longer be avoided but when Batman next flew from the cave the game would be played by his terms, Bruce smiled grimly at this piece of information.

Alfred met him at the terminal a look of happiness on his face, "It worked." Bruce said more of a statement than a question. He threw his towel to one side and walked a little quicker to the terminal.

"There was a pager message that went out about twenty minutes ago then the text messages went crazy." Alfred punched a few buttons and chose the messages that summed up what was happening the best.

Bruce speed read them, doctors and nurses who were on the floor had quickly passed the news on to friends within the hospital, who in turn could not hold back and had started to text their own friends as well as news networks and newspapers. 'Calming down...coherent behaviour...reduced swelling...coma?' Bruce's stomach flipped at the last part though he knew the information he was seeing was third even forth hand and that the truth was buried in there somewhere.

"About five minutes ago a main call went out to all heads of the hospital, the CT boys have been called back in too," Alfred watched the screens as he spoke, Oracle was starting to open more windows, news channels popping up one on top of the other as the story broke, "now the whole world knows."

"Carlos is long gone then," It was a bitter pill to swallow, Bruce had hoped to come face to face with the man one more time as Batman and make him pay. Instead Bruce Wayne would now have to face Carlos and Axis in halls of power and destroy the whole company. "Batch Thirty five has failed, he no longer has Klaus."

"Sir," Alfred said looking at a smaller monitor, "according to this, his plane is still at the airport. Perhaps he is still in town?" Alfred said optimistically. Bruce was surprised by the news; perhaps Batman would still have a chance. But he would have to move quickly now, the players would be trying to clean up and shut up shop. Alfred could see Bruce's mind working away, planning a strategy, which was all well and good for Batman but for Bruce Wayne it was not what he needed right now, "Sir may I suggest you go to the hospital and see Selina?"

The name was like an ice cube down his back it broke his thoughts and made him gasp. Through all this he had held off seeing Selina at the hospital, partly he did not want to see her that way and partly his level head had told him seeing Selina would not help her, but doing something about it would. He had done something, he had saved her life and now he was finding more ways to avoid her. 

It was not the guilt of Harley Quinn that was holding him back, Barbara on the other hand? He had admitted his own feelings for her to himself before she had left for University all those years ago. He had moved on since, almost forgotten about her until their meeting at the restaurant had reminded him. Then the other night on the rooftop, it was all too easy to say it was whatever was controlling him at work, but that was not the total truth he had wanted it to happen too and he could see it in her eyes as she kissed him and slipped him inside her that she had wanted it too.

Selina Kyle would see it on his face hear it in his voice that he was hiding something from her. Bruce did not want to break her heart again, when his own was so conflicted. But if he did not go then she would know for certain something was wrong. "Can you get the car ready Alfred,"

Alfred could not hide his smile, "with pleasure sir," he turned and headed to the lift with a jaunty walk, he stopped and turned, "by the way sir, perhaps a call to Barbara to let her know the good news." Bruce nodded and grabbed his phone.

Gotham General,

The sight of Bruce Wayne stepping out of his town car sent the gathered masses of newspaper and News Channel reporters into a frenzy, the questions flew thick and fast and Bruce replied to them all with a business like smile and a curt nod as he pushed through the mob into the hospital. 

Once inside the hospital he collared an orderly who quickly pointed him to the on duty doctor. Henry Greenwood was past retirement age but clung on to his role at Gotham General it was either this or spend his time alone down in Florida, getting older and fatter. "Doctor Greenwood," Bruce called out. 

Henry wrote two more names on a white board and sighed, no doubt another reporter had snuck through the front doors. He forced the top onto the marker and slammed it down before turning with fury to the approaching man, "You leeches just do not know when to quit," he spat out then stopped himself and stared with surprise at the man in the expensive business suit. "Bruce Wayne?" he stammered then let out a good natured laugh extending a warm hand that was gratefully received, "Sorry about the leech comment, since the news broke those reporters have been trying anything to get in here and upstairs."

"Well there not the only ones," Bruce replied and the good doctor's friendly smile dropped a little, "I have a friend up there that I was hoping to see."

"Bruce the rules state family only up on five. Did you hear about the reporter trying to steal the files a couple of days back, trust me the cops will not let you near anyone." Greenwood could see the disappointment on the man's face and felt a pang of guilt. Bruce Wayne and Wayne enterprises had done so much for the hospital in the past without even asking for anything in return, "Look I can get you up there, maybe. But," Henry leaned in, "How much do you know?" Some of the families of the patients had seen first-hand the night the patients had totally lost it. Henry doubted any of them would have spoken out at what they had seen.

"Not much," Bruce lied, "I was at the fund raiser and went to get drinks when the attack happened. She was brought here and kept in isolation." He knew it all though, something like a mass violent orgy is something that would slip out and the police report of that night was graphic in its statements and Bruce knew it was a no holds barred account.

Henry knew when he was being lied to. You did not reach seventy years old and work in Gotham general without being lied to about stab wounds, bullet wounds and phantom pains. "Okay, you don't have to tell me how you know," Bruce looked away guiltily, "But atleast you know what to expect. Follow me," Henry and Bruce walked down to the row of lifts, only one lift now allowed access to the fifth floor. 

One police officer was stationed at the lift door and he stood up straight as the two men approached and slipped his computer tablet off the chair next to him. "Good morning Gentleman how can I help you?" The officer asked politely.

Henry showed the officer his ID badge and waited patiently as the young man ran his name through the system he gave the doctor the all clear then turned to Bruce, "Bruce Wayne I have a friend up on the fifth floor."

The officer frowned as he scanned his list, "Sorry sir, but there are no Wayne's currently upstairs maybe another name is it your wife?"

"Jimmy, this is Bruce Wayne, The Bruce Wayne," Henry interjected. The officer looked at both men bemused and shrugged, "If it was not for Wayne Enterprises your little boy would not have received the care and attention he so desperately needed in this fine hospital."

Bruce and Henry watched the officer's internal conflict, the name had finally rang a bell and Henry's guilt trip had certainly shaken poor Jimmy up. Finally Jimmy nodded and tapped a series of entries into his tablet, "what's the patient's name?" he asked without looking up, Bruce gave the name of Samantha Kinkalow. "Okay you are on the list, the only one for her in fact, but doc," The young man looked up, "I put your name next to his too okay?" the warning was loud and clear, if anything happened Henry Greenwood would be held accountable.

The lift doors opened and both men stepped in just as a young nursed ran up, "Doctor we have a young lady coming in, five minutes out." She said breathlessly.

"Well this looks like where we part ways for the time being Bruce," Henry said and they both shook hands. Bruce hit the fifth floor button and waited for the doors to close, "Tell me the situation?" Henry said as he and the nurse started to walk away.

"Trauma and rape, the drivers said it's a lady called Barbara Gordon, you heard of her?" the nurse said and Bruce gasped loudly as the lift doors closed.

Henry shook his head, "Barbara Gordon, cannot say that I know her to be honest,"

"You should do, her dads the police commissioner," the nurse replied.

Henry stumbled to a stop, his face paled. "God lord, I helped treat her mother years ago! Wait, Jim Gordon is up on five isn't he?" He asked and the nurse nodded. Henry could not understand such a horrible fate for anyone in that family yet all three had fallen to something rotten and twisted. "Poor family," he sighed before finding his feet again and continued on his way with more determination.

Bruce had yelled at the elevator doors as he was sped to the fifth floor, the doors had hardly parted before he was smashing the button to take him back down. The Police officer's had turned as the doors opened alarmed at seeing the man in obvious distress, they attempted to calm him down but the doors swiftly closed and carried him back down.

Jimmy was waiting for him as he came out, the cops upstairs radioing down the situation and making Jimmy regret ever putting Bruce Wayne's name on the list. Bruce stormed out of the lift ignoring the young officer's calls and rushed down the curtain lined corridor towards the Emergency room.

The sick and injured were in various states of sitting and slumping in the waiting room as Bruce barged in, he saw Henry Greenwood at the sliding double doors and went to call to the man but the words stuck as the double doors slid open and a gurney was wheeled in by two tired looking men. It was the sight of her red hair that made the bile rise in Bruce's stomach, he clung to a wall for support as one of the men reeled off injuries to Henry as they pushed the gurney through the waiting room and out of sight.

Bruce followed behind unhindered, "...Punctured lung on the right side and fractures to both legs and left eye socket..." one man reeled off as the gurney was pushed into one of the ER rooms, the doors swinging shut behind them. 

Bruce went to go in but a nurse stopped him, "That's a closed room sir," she said sternly holding Bruce back with remarkable strength.

"I know her," Bruce said numbly. 

The nurse looked over her shoulder into the room, "she's in the best hands right now and there is nothing you can do for her." She said sympathetically.

Bruce stayed close to the room, he peered in from time to time as the doctors and nurses went about their business, he turned away and gave Barbara some privacy when a nurse walked in with the rape kit. A detective found Bruce and grilled him for half an hour on his relationship to Barbara Gordon and his whereabouts last night. Bruce gave him the answers as best he could as well as mentioning his phone conversation in the morning with her and that nothing had sounded untoward.

"I have a team in there at the moment, looks like the window was forced open. Whoever did this we will find them Mister Wayne you can count on that!" The detective said grimly and wandered off waiting for Henry Greenwood to appear.

It was into the afternoon before Bruce was given clearance to see Barbara. The detective had spent over an hour speaking to her in an isolated room. Bruce could see it was hard going, Barbara drifting in and out of consciousness or breaking down as she recalled what had happened to her. 

Barbara looked away as Bruce entered the room, he could hear her sniffing and she wiped tears away with her one good arm, the other trussed up across her bandaged chest. "Barbara I..." Bruce began but trailed off, what was there to say. He walked round to face her, and sat down. One eye was swollen shut and black with bruises, lacerations crisscrossed across her pale skin and her bottom lip was fat and swollen. "This was not your fault."

Barbara looked up at him, "You don't understand, this was my fault, this was our fault." Bruce felt like he had been punched in the gut, the wind was knocked from him in the accusation. "I told the police I disturbed a gang trying to rob my apartment but that's not the truth."

Barbara recounted want had really happened, how she had faced Bane all alone in her apartment. How he had beaten and broken her bloody before raping her on her bed. Bruce's jaw hurt with the force of clenching it shut, his fury was all consuming. His hands clenched and unclenched his knuckles turning white as he made fists. "It was Ivy. When she broke Klaus out of Arkham she brought him along as back up." He stood up, pacing the room that felt suddenly far too small and far too hot.

"When I close my eyes all I can see is his mask," Barbara said and broke down into heavy sobs. 

A nurse walked in, her dark skin standing out in the stark environment, "I think you had had enough visitors for today." The nurse said opening the morphine drip a little further and giving a dark look at Bruce Wayne.

He knelt down by Barbara and took gentle hold of one hand, "Look at me Barbara," he said sternly and her eyes came up and held his own, "This ends tonight."

Gotham General, Fifth floor

Jim Gordon tried to eat the dried piece of wholemeal toast that had now gone cold. He bit into it and moved it about his mouth he winced as his newly loosened teeth came together. He swallowed the barely chewed lump of bread and took a deep drink from the glass of water. He would find out later on that he was one of the last to wake up, disorientated, confused and in pain. 

He was struck with absolute fear when he had opened his eyes to find himself strapped to a hospital bed. Doctors and nurses seemed apprehensive to come near him and their questions were short, his constant questioning of where he was, why he was here and what the hell was going on seemed to fall on deaf ears.

It was only after a CT scan that his restraints were removed and a middle aged, kindly looking therapist came to see him. With slow deliberation she had gone through the events of the past few days, she answered all the questions that Jim Gordon had though these became fewer and fewer as the strange tale unfolded into one of unmitigated horror. 

At the end James Gordon had broken down and cried, he had not cried so much since his wife's funeral. The therapist had sat and remained quiet throughout this episode, she was not in a rush she had already spoken to two other patients and their reactions to their shocking behaviour were all the same. "So what now?" Gordon asked wiping at his red eyes, his apology for the tears waved off by the therapist.

"Now Mister Gordon you need to get back on the road of recovery and not just physically but mentally. The hospital has put the mentally part in my hands and the physical part, well that's up to you." Her smile seemed to say to Jim that everything would be okay, he took some comfort in that but his behaviour and his actions gnawed at him. "You need to rest and recuperate,"

The therapist's eyebrows arched at the sudden bark of a laugh the escaped Jim Gordon, "You are kidding right," he shook his head even though it made his brain hurt.

"They told me you would respond that way," she said in a dead pan tone. They both smiled and laughed, "I would say Commissioner Gordon is responding well to treatment." The therapist closed her note book, just as a nurse walked in with more syringes for blood work and a small paper cup containing pills, "I am not going to lie to you Jim, you have got a very difficult road ahead of you, a lot of sleepless nights and a lot more soul searching before you can even start to put what happened to you in the past." She slipped out a card and put it on his bedside, "You have an appointment with me next Tuesday and do not be late."

"We need some more blood Commissioner," the nurse said and started to tap for a vein without waiting for Gordon to give the go ahead. On the second vial to be filled she said, "They are bringing you some food around, nothing fancy just toast for now, think you can manage it?" 

Jim nodded, his bushy eyebrows knitted together as he tried to plunge the depths of what had happened to him. Once at college he had gotten blindly drunk, woken up across two state lines behind a rundown bar, his memory blank. As time went on he kept getting brief flashes of the night before, it had been difficult to know what was delirium and what was true. It was happening again now...he could see a fountain, an odd mist then a terrible flash of someone's head being smashed against the floor, Jim's hand on the back of the head. Another skip and he was between a woman's leg's both her and Jim covered in blood having sex. He felt unsettled and rubbed his temples to shake loose the memories true or false.




The Batman: Downfall Ch. 09



The nurse finished up and asked if he needed anything else, "No not right now," came his response as she began to leave the room a thought came to him, something fresh and clean and it made him feel light, "Can someone contact my daughter for me," The nurse nodded with a smile, she left the room quickly her false smile dropping and her face filled with worry.

Even in Jim Gordon's weakened state it had taken two police officers to hold him back, he had staggered from his room, when, finally someone had relinquished knowledge of his daughter. He had sent one doctor to the ground with a clumsy punch that almost sent Gordon ass backwards to the ground too. You could see on everyone's face that they thought the cure had only a limited time of effectiveness; they fled and called in back up. The officers had managed to corner Gordon and get on either side of him it was only his calls and pleas to see his daughter that had finally sunk in to the on call doctor that this was not a relapse. "Sir, you cannot leave this ward you need to be monitored..."

"Do you know who I am?" Jim spat trying to break free of the officers who held him, "Do you know what I can do to you? I will send you to the deepest, darkest cell in black gate if you do not let me see my daughter." Even the officers seemed worried at this statement and the fact that he could mean both of them as well added an extra amount of tension to the situation.

The doctor held up his hands, "Okay, calm down. Five minutes okay, and then back up here."

Henry Greenwood met Jim outside of Barbara's room the two of them went way back. Henry had pulled a bullet from Jim's thigh when he was a beat cop and they had run into one another ever since. Jim was still in his hospital dressing gown and his face was drawn and haggard, making him look nearer one hundred years old "You can go in if you like?" Henry said.

Jim shook his head, "She's sleeping," he rubbed the heel of one hand at his eyes fighting back the tears.

"She said she had disturbed a gang trying to rob her apartment," Henry said filling the silence, "Sounds like she put up one heck of a fight too."

"Gets that from her mother," Jim smiled grimly and sighed loudly he tried to push himself up from leaning on the door but his body felt tired and used up. Henry looked the man over, his arms and legs were bruised and swollen in places his face though tired had only a set of scratch marks down one cheek. 

"Look Jim we go way back and I have to tell you her story does not make much sense to me...or your boys at the GCPD," Henry felt guilt for what he was about to say but he could not stand idly by and let someone walk free from such a disgusting crime, "well from what I can tell and looking at the bruising and what not, it was only one assailant." Henry spoke quickly and in hush tones.

"What? why would Barb' lie about who attacked her?" Jim asked before his cop instincts kicked in. "She's protecting someone?" It was something he had heard a hundred times before when he was a lowly beat cop, the prostitutes and their Johns, the put upon housewife and drunk husband, the college kid and her abusive father. The story was always the same, they loved them and they promised they would change. The only change Gordon ever saw was when the woman was lying on her back in the morgue.

Henry shrugged, "Maybe. She did have a visitor, well I say visitor he was here just before she turned up..." Gordon listened to his tale it seemed absurd to think that Bruce Wayne would attack Barbara. Henry's story was a mixed bag of different perspectives of nurse and doctors and he could imagine something getting lost in the translation, but still...

Barbara had been gunning for Bruce Wayne since she came to the city, all that talk of crime boss and tax evasion...what if she had stumbled onto something. And to keep her quiet... it was too much for his drug dulled brain to cope with, he was making massive leaps of judgment with no real evidence. "You need to sign me out Henry."

Henry shook his head, "No can do Jim, you know that." He started to list the reasons on his fingers, "You have just survived massive trauma to your cranium, you have a badly strained arm and leg, and your white blood cells are dangerously low. You are not going anywhere."

Jim stood up straight, resolve on his face, "Then you are going to have to stop me."

Wayne Manor,

Alfred walked to the front door and the incessant ringing of the doorbell. He cursed under his breath at the downright rude behaviour of whoever was constantly ringing the bell. Alfred swore under his breath as the ringing stopped only to be replaced with the heavy hammering of a fist on the thick wooden door.

"How may I help you," Alfred spat out as he pulled one door open, his voice full of restrained anger with just enough leeching out to show his dislike in being summoned so rudely.

"I need to see Bruce Wayne," Gordon said leaning on the doorframe hardly able to stand on his feet, the exhaustion from banging on the door taking its toll on him.

"Commissioner Gordon, I..." Alfred stammered his anger washed away with the shock of seeing the man before him. 

Gordon found new strength and pushed past Alfred, who, still in a state of shock did not have chance to put up a fight. "Where is he?"

Bruce could not face the Bat cave, his fury would take him on a path that there was no returning from. Instead he had stripped to his pants and had taken to the dojo. The room was spacious and blank. The walls painted a dull white with no patterns or pictures. The windows had been removed and plastered over, the outside world and the world of the Bat did not live here. But try as he might, Bruce could not shake his fury. The fury at himself and at Ivy and Bane, he bludgeoned every Body Opponent Bag he could find. He kicked, punched and threw himself at them with gusto until he collapsed to the mat sweat dripping out of every pore.

"You look like a very angry man," Gordon said, he had climbed the mansions grand stairwell with agonising pain in his legs, he had clung to the bannister as if his life depended on it but refused the help of Alfred when it was offered to him. When they had reached the room, Gordon could hear the noise through the door, the screams, the heavy thuds of punches landing had made his jaw clench, his broken teeth singing a new song of pain as he did so. Alfred tried to stop him but he had pushed the door open just as Bruce collapsed to the floor.

Bruce looked up with shock at the voice, "Commissioner Gordon?" Bruce exclaimed seeing the man.

"I need answers and I need the truth," Gordon said and forced his weary legs to carry him into the room right up to Bruce Wayne. Bruce found his own aching legs and stood up he had no time to see the clenched fist come flying at him landing on his sweaty right cheek and sending him reeling backwards. He stumbled and went to one knee, "You and Barbara, tell me" Gordon's renewed strength pushed him on, he let out a kick that Bruce easily deflected with a swipe of one muscular arm, an arm Gordon noted had fresh bruising running up the length of it. "Did Barbara do that?"

Bruce dodged the next thrown punch and felt stupid when Gordon followed through with a swipe at his gut, "Stop it Jim," he called out as another punch flew through the air. Bruce defended each thrown punch and kick that came his way but refused to retaliate. Gordon stepped forward with his next punch losing his balance momentarily it was more than enough for Bruce, he crouched and spun his leg out and swept the commissioner off of his.

Gordon hit the ground hard, all his fight escaped with his breath as it was violently expelled from him. He tried to move but Bruce Wayne had climbed onto his stomach and planted his knees painfully onto Jim's arms, pinning him down. "I need the truth Bruce," he gasped out, tears running down his hot cheeks, "Tell me the truth, did you do that to Barbara?"

The look of shock was all the answer Jim Gordon needed. He could see it in Bruce's eyes, the look of an innocent man being accused of something so horrible and also pain. Pain at what had befallen someone he cared for, "It was not me," the words were thick with emotion as Bruce spoke them.

"Then who was it?"

Bruce hesitated, he felt responsible for the attack on Barbara, in truth Bruce felt as if he had an indirect part in the rape. Leaving her alone like that he knew full well that Carlos and Ivy would go all out to get Klaus back or atleast even the playing field once more. "I wish I knew." He finally replied.

Bruce lifted himself off of Gordon and helped the man to his feet, "What is going on with you and Barbara? She's been gunning for you since she arrived in town and all of a sudden you're at her hospital bedside? That doesn't add up Bruce."

"It is a little complicated commissioner," out in the open their situation was difficult to put into words that would not get Bruce arrested, "dating is perhaps one way of putting it." It was an odd lie, but they had spent so much time together it was the only plausible one he could say. 

Gordon's brow knitted together as he tried to process this information, "Barbara has her secrets, I know that I just did not think you were one of them." He held out a shaky hand, "I'm sorry for attacking you Bruce, it's just..." Bruce took the offered hand and pulled the man in for a hug, he held him as Jim Gordon cried.

Between them Bruce and Alfred had gotten Gordon out of the dojo and into a well-worn leather chair in the snug library room downstairs. A Brandy had been offered and gratefully received as had a sandwich. Gordon apologised repeatedly for accusing Bruce and for the crying but all the apologies were waved off. Alfred cleared away the plate and with a grudging no Gordon dismissed another glass of Brandy, he waited for Alfred to leave the warm snug room before he spoke again, "Could your friend help?" Gordon asked in a hushed conspiratorial way.

"My friend? I'm afraid I don't know who you're talking about Jim."

"Come on Bruce," Gordon replied and Bruce responded with a shrug of his shoulders, "Batman, that's who." Bruce was shaking his head as he opened his mouth to talk but Gordon cut him off before he could begin, "Do not even start to say you do not know him Bruce. Batman has money coming in from somewhere to fund his war on crime. It took me awhile to figure out that you or Wayne Enterprises are somehow linked to him and to be honest I don't care." Bruce sat back in his own chair and gave a curt nod. Gordon smiled, he had known it for some time but to discover he was spot on was gratifying. "He knows this town better than most, is there any way he can help find Barbara's attacker."

Bruce stayed silent for a moment as if he were mulling it over then said, "I will pass the message on...only, since you put a warrant on his head his life has been made considerably more taxing."

Gordon shook his head, "Blame the damn mayor for that! He rode the issue so hard I ended giving the go ahead to shut him up." The pieces were falling into place, Carlos controlled the Mayor and the Mayor controlled the Commissioner. Batman was a fly in the Axis ointment what better way to remove him than to push for his arrest. Bruce asked Gordon if he had heard about the mayor and Gordon nodded, "Shot at close range, his assistant is downtown right now believe it or not, claims Sebastian Garcia was crooked."

That was indeed good news, if the assistant had access to paperwork and bank accounts then a paper trail to Axis would be found and the chemical plant would not go ahead. "I never figured him to be on the take?" And that had been the truth for a long time, Bruce had even helped fund the Mayor's election campaign that could be a headache but no worse than the North Korea fiasco. 

Gordon asked to use the phone, his own was missing along with his wallet no doubt still sitting somewhere in the hospital. Bruce waited patiently in the library for the Commissioners return, when he came back in the old Jim Gordon stood before him. "I have a press conference at seven out at GCPD, seems Mayor Garcia may have a lot more to do with what's been going on in town they we ever realised." Bruce stood up and walked Gordon to the front door, "Tell our friend that the warrant is being rescinded with immediate effect." They shook hands one more time as a police car pulled up.

Gotham City Police Headquarters,

Batman had watched the live feed as he sat in Gordon's darkened office his cowl ran the feed directly through one lens. He watched motionless as Gordon spoke of the Town Hall incident, he dismissed or down right ignored shouted questions from the press with regards anything that had to do with the inside of the hospital. The press exploded as Gordon announced an investigation into Sebastian Garcia's murder and his own dealings. Batman looked at Gordon's desk a hefty manila folder sat there with Batman's own findings, it would never see the court but it would send Gordon in the right direction.

"Lastly," Gordon said appealing for quiet from the gathered masses. He had been warned not to do the press conference, he had already passed out once while at the office and an Ambulance was waiting round the corner just in case, but Gordon had to finish what had been started. "I have a message for a friend of Gotham City," the crowd fell quiet microphones were raised and stretched out. "In our darkest hour you came and saved myself and others with a cure that, had it not arrived would have surely meant the death of many. Batman and Batgirl the city owes you our gratitude, the warrant for the arrest of Batman is now repealed until such time that the GCPD deem him a threat to the safety of the good people Gotham." The press pit exploded.

There were more claps than stone faces as Gordon retreated into the air conditioned coolness of the foyer of the Police headquarters. Many of the young cops mouthed well done and thank you at him for having the guts to say what the GCPD for a long time could never say, Gotham was safer with Batman than without. Those who did not clap or talk were more than likely mad at losing the chance to bag Batman and the reward that some of the crime families had issued for his legal death.

He reached his office forty five minutes after leaving the press in a cacophony of noisy madness and unanswered questions. "You really left them fuming Commissioner," Detective George Travis said walking alongside Gordon, "Just so you know I support the whole Batman thing, but others are not going to like it."

"It is those others I need out of this police force Travis, one way or another this police force is going to be cleaned up." Gordon looked over at Travis, "How's Bullock doing?"

Gordon watched the man's cheeks redden, "He booked himself out of the hospital and no one has seen him since, just hope to God he heard your message."

Gordon reached his office door and pushed it open, he flicked the light switch and it remained dark, Gordon said the first thing that came into his head "Could you get me a coffee Travis?" 

Gordon watched Travis walk off before sliding into his office and closing the door behind him, "You hear my message?"

Gordon still got a quiet fright even after all these years watching Batman suddenly slip out of the shadows becoming a living, breathing embodiment of them. "I did and thank you."

"No, thank you and I mean it. For now anyway, once a new mayor is sworn in you can damn well believe that they will go tooth and nail to get you off the streets again." Gordon walked over to his desk, the dark wood now almost black in the murky darkness. The folder stood out, "What's all this?" he asked picking it up.

"A start," 

Gordon flicked through it, names began to appear, Garcia, Constance and Axis were the most prominent. "That's one heck of a start!"

"It will get you in the right direction, asking the right questions." Batman gave a grim smile. He slipped a photograph onto the table next.

Gordon looked up from the folder and at the photograph, "Who's that?" he said looking at the picture upside down.

"A friend told me about your daughter," the next part was taking a plunge into murky waters to help someone else. Someone trying to make amends for past indiscretions he only hoped Bullock was up to the task now, "Alberto Falcone, he's on your books for petty crimes most of his other crimes are quickly covered up, like rape for instance." It hurt to lie to Jim Gordon but in the long run it would pay off, as long as Bullock played along and nothing went to haywire. The variables were mounting up making the risks invariably higher.

Gordon grabbed the picture and turned it around. The face was young, but the one he had seen in the hospital was not much older. "How did you find this out?" He said, when he got no reply he looked up from the picture only to find his office empty.

Rooftops of Gotham

It was time everything had led to this point. The game Ivy and Harley had started would be finished by Batman and it would be by his rules, perhaps that was some small satisfaction but it still hurt him deep down with what he was about to become. He crossed the rooftops with ease and as he went he paid no mind to the streets beneath him. The police radio was muted, even Alfred's ever open line was now shut off he was alone. 

The tall buildings began to give way, the small tenements passed beneath him and slowly the smell of the docks began to drift into his nasal passages. Batman cleared his mind, every now and then Barbara would swim to the surface and he fought hard to push her back down even though it hurt him to do so. Two shipping containers dwarfed the docks as their huge containers were off loaded, arc lights brought an artificial daytime to the workers. Batman landed on the outstretched arm of one of the container arms and without fear he walked the length of it towards the main structure. He climbed a little higher until he was at the very pinnacle of the crane.

Batman had the perfect view of the warehouses from here, he had pinpointed his destination prior to leaving the cave and now he stared intently at the dark mass, apprehension held him back, what if Cannon was wrong? What if he could not simply walk away? He swallowed the doubts and with a single step he launched himself from the crane.

Harley yawned loudly; she had been stuck in this grimy warehouse since late afternoon. Ivy had told her to get there and stay put until Batman turned up, Harley had complained but it had fallen on deaf ears as most of her complaining seemed to do with Ivy nowadays. What had worried Harley was the tone of Ivy's voice, something had happened that would get the bat moving but more than that something terrible had happened at the arboretum, Klaus had double crossed them. Ivy had told her bits and pieces in the same defeated, tired tone. Her voice had only shown any other kind of emotion towards the end, "Make a show of it my Harley Quinn, make Batman pay." She had said her voice almost shaky with excitement before the line went dead.

She paced back to the window that overlooked the almost monolithic structures of Gotham City, she lifted her night vision goggles and gave another sweep of the area...nothing, "If you're coming Bats, get a move on." Harley said to herself, though she still had doubts about the plan there had been a marked change in her attitude after their little fumbling in the Mayor's office. Beneath Harley's white foundation her cheeks blushed as she remembered seeing the Bat's cock for the first time, her stomach gave a little flip as she replayed taking him into her mouth and the unexpected excitement it had produced.

Her thoughts were brought back to the here and now when the few remaining strip lights suddenly died. She turned around squinting in the darkness until she remembered the night vision goggles dangling in one hand, she lifted them tutting to herself as she did so. The warehouse came into green fuzzy view, she scanned slowly left to right a creeping sense of being watched was building in her and she took a cautious step forward. She lowered the goggles cursing herself for being so jittery...then she felt it. 




The Batman: Downfall Ch. 09



Something big had descended behind her, an immovable object had blocked out the meagre light that had been coming through the dirty glass. Harley let out a yelp as a heavy hand landed on one should and forcibly spun her around. Night engulfed her, black armour seemed to envelope her, the hand on her shoulder dropped to one slender arm and the grip tightened holding her in place, Harley looked up and caught the sneer that was on Batman's mouth, she opened her own for a witticism but it was knocked clear as Batman delivered a stinging slap that knocked her face sideways.

Batman's death grip vanished and Harley toppled to the ground. But not for long, she rolled and swept out with one fishnet leg that connected with nothing but air, Batman had disappeared. "Don't disappoint me Mister B. no need to be shy around little old me," she said and wiped a thin tendril of blood from the corner of her mouth.

"Harley," 

The voice came from all around her it was hoarse and desperate in its plea. Harley's red lipped grin spread slowly, "Sounds like you got it bad Bats," There was movement to her left and she spun, catching the sight of a cape disappearing into the shadows behind a concrete pillar. Harley reached up and began to work the strings loose on her red and black corset she reached the pillar and discarded the corset. "You craving a little Quinn in your diet?" she said mockingly and stepped around the pillar finding it deserted. 

"No...yes," the last word turned to an almost whimper.

Harley followed as best she could, her white blouse a size too small for this evening clung to her bare breasts her nipples hard points that pulled at the white cotton fabric. She knew the camera layouts by heart and could not help but pout towards one hiding in a crack in another pillar as she walked slowly past it. "Come out, come out wherever you are," she sang and pulled her blouse open, buttons ripping free from the stitching and sent ricocheting off the floor. 

Harley heard a deep sigh to her right and turned that way, her breasts were free and she reached up cupping them then pinching both nipples with her thumb and forefingers. A black mass broke from the shadows directly in front of her. The ferocity of his approach made Harley stumble backwards, her left ankle twisting under her, she yelped and fell backwards her arms flying in front of her.

With one hand Batman caught her right wrist holding her in place, frozen in a fall, his other arm came up, hand curled into a fist that flew forward and stopped an inch or so from Harleys face. "What is it with you men? You don't know whether to hit a girl or kiss her? So what's it going to be Mister B?" The fist unfurled, the hand shaking, the fingers dancing as it withdrew. Harley was pulled to her feet the left ankle gave a scream of agony just to remind Harley Quinn of what had happened. The hand on her wrist loosened and travelled up her arm. Harley leaned in, she could hear the ragged breathing of Batman, his eyes were shrouded in darkness yet she knew they would be wide and staring frantically at her.

Harley leaned further in, her lips parting slightly and as they connected with Batman's. It was a soft, gentle kiss, a kiss of two lover's coming together for the first time. Harley broke the kiss but Batman leaned in his grip firming up on her arm as he did so, keeping her where she was. His mouth met her firmer still and she found his tongue probing at her lips, she opened her mouth letting him explore before she politely reciprocated. 

Batman's free hand found Harley's waist then travelled north turning as it cupped one breast before continuing further still the rough gloves rubbing across Harley's firm nipple then across her other one. Without warning Batman stepped backwards pulling his hands away as if they were plunged into lava. "Don't fight it Bat's," Harley said and started to hike up her tiny plaid skirt, the stockings came to an end, pale thigh either side. The skirt pulled higher, now where panties would be revealed only Harleys shaved sex could be seen. "I bet you got a gadget that would feel right at home here." Harley said and slipped a hand down her sex, one finger slipping easily into her for a second, an involuntary shudder swept over Harley as she did so.

Harley lifted the sticky finger towards Batman, his mouth spasmed as he fought with himself. He gave a whimper then took the finger into his mouth. He moved forward again, his hands finding Harley's backside and lifting her up as he went. Harley's legs twisted around his waist her boots crossing at her ankles behind his back they kissed frantically as they moved.

Harley let out a "oomph" as her back connected with a concrete pillar, Batman's hands tightened on her bare backside and started to lift her higher, Harley's legs untangled as she was lifted onto his shoulders, she felt a hot breath on her sex then his wet tongue as it ran in maddening slowness from bottom to top, her clitoris getting that last lingering lick. Harley gripped his bat ears as his tongue worked in quick darts between her engorged, wet lips then switched to long slow circles around her hard clitoris.

From up on her perch Harley writhed with pleasure, her eye's winced but her lips curled into a smile as she felt on thick gloved finger probe the outside of her tiny anus before pushing firmly against it then into it. She opened one eye, a pile of older computer monitors no more than five feet from them, she knew in the middle of all that, inside a shattered screen one camera was filming them she hoped the lack of light was not going to hide too much. Harley began to match Batman's motion's his tongue rotated around her clitoris and Harley moved her hips the opposite way grinding where she could as more and more of Batman's finger found its way deeper into her anus. Harley bit her lower lip, she was so close now as if he knew this his tongue came to a stop, his finger now deep in her anus only heightened the coming orgasm. She pushed and ground down as best she could her hands worked his bat ears as if they were miniature cocks. 

Harley's thighs tightened around the masked head, her head hit painfully against the concrete pillar though she failed to notice it as she let out a long moan, her orgasm setting fire to her whole body, her nipples tingled in the cool air as if tiny points of electricity were tickling them. She had barely caught her breath when Batman dropped her with little grace from his shoulders. She fell with a scream onto the dirt and debris strewn ground, her backside hitting the cold floor painfully. 

Harley was starting to stand up when Batman's cock slapped across her face, he had pulled the lower part of his costume down, his balls were lifted over it in a painful looking way yet he seemed not to care. His cock seemed bigger than it had before, the head bulbous and dark in colour, one vein ran thick across the length and the whole length twitched with anticipation. Batman pushed forward again, his cock head jabbing at her red lips, Harley opened her mouth to say something but he pushed forward and she gagged as his whole length seemed to feed into her mouth.

Harley pulled her head back as far as he would let her, just enough to allow her to breath and give her atleast some control. He had given himself to her begrudgingly at the Mayor's apartment, she had coaxed his cock back then and in the end he had responded willingly. The Batman that stood before her now was different, he dominated her, there was no gentle play, no back and forth he wanted Harley and he was having her. 

Batman's cock slipped free of Harley's mouth and she took in as much air as she could, his cock was rigid and slippery before him, her sex ached to feel him in her, it had been so long since a real man had had his way with Harley Quinn. Harley got up on shaky legs, she moved further towards the windows, into more light and into the area where most of the cameras were trained. She toyed with Batman, he came in close and she danced away, she felt one hand on her back side and she smacked it playfully away, her eyes going from the Batman's to his throbbing cock. Another step took her away from the concrete pillars and into the 'kill' zone. Batman lunged for her and Harley spun away her blonde hair tipped with shocking red twirling around her as she did so. 

Batman's hand was lighting fast it reached up grabbing on pony tail and yanked hard, Harley yelped out and dropped to the ground, her head at a funny angle as Batman held the ponytail. "Who'd a thunked it? Batman likes the rough stuff." Harley said through gritted teeth. Batman struck low, his leg coming out swift and taking Harley off her own and bringing her down to her knee's her hair pulling tight in his grasp. 

Batman released her hair and was behind her in one fluid motion, Harley felt both his hands on her back pushing her down onto all fours, her scalp was on fire and her ankle throbbed taking a lot of her anger and wit away. One hand slipped down the small of her back and onto her round backside, it paused a moment, squeezing and caressing the flesh before continuing down a little further. Harley pushed back feeling the tip of his thumb at her wet labia. "I Hope that's not all you got for me Mister B?" Harley chided.

The thumb and hand disappeared and Harley let out a soft sigh as she felt what was undoubtedly his cock head nudging between her labia. Harley gave a breathless squeal as he pushed forward feeding his cock all the way in, filling up her sex and stretching her like no other before him. Batman's hands found her backside again and squeezed the flesh with each deep thrust into her. 

Harley rotated her hips and met Batman's thrusts with her own push backwards, why she had never thought of fucking Batman before with or without the aid of a drug escaped her. So much time had been wasted on the hope that Joker would one day be the Jack in her box, all the while Batman had been right there willing to do the task and do it well. Harley's arms ached and threatened to give way as Batman leaned forward, his weight heavy on her bare back as his gloved hands found her breasts and held them, his thrusting never slowing down. 

With a wet sound Batman pulled free of Harley Quinn, had he cum or had he come to his senses, Harley fought the urge to turn and fight, to defend herself. Whatever her action was going to be was rendered mute as she felt both her pigtails being taken in hand, her head was pulled back with a painful jerk making Harley bare her teeth and hiss. Harley knew where his other hand was, his cock head was being guided across her anus, it nudged at the opening a little loose after having Batman toying with it, though she doubted loose enough for what he had in mind.

Harley's arms went from beneath her, her scalp felt like it was ready to part her skull as Batman pushed his sticky cock head into her backside, the tip slipped in and he kept going, forcing more and more of himself into her. Harley let out a cry before she felt him pulling back. The respite was short lived as he pushed forward again it repeated back and forth each thrust forward filling her up more and more. Now she was ready for him and Batman knew it, his thrusts sped up, her aching small back passage was his for the taking and he revelled in filling her up.

With one hand still holding her pigtail's the other was now free to explore her sex once more. Harley ground down filling his thick gloved fingers probing her wet hole and hard clitoris, Harley could feel another orgasm mounting, it was a dull ache that was growing rapidly. If only Ivy was here to suck her tits, Harley thought and the idea alone was enough to push her once more over the edge. 

Her second orgasm seemed to herald Batman's own ending. He ploughed fast and shallow, his breathing a mix of ragged grunts and growls with one final push he let out a long moan and Harley felt the warmth splatter inside her back passage, his cock pulsing with each eruption. When Batman finally pulled out, Harley could not help but let out a laugh, she rolled onto her back letting her aching limbs and sore backside have a break. Her lipstick was smeared which gave her smile a disjointed wider than is natural look as she watched Batman fumble with his cock.

Her smile faltered, he had gotten to his feet his cock still oozed cum and was now dropping slowly though still impressive yet it was the grim smile on his face that had given rise to Harley's sudden discomfort. "You like the merchandise Bats?" Harley asked, pushing forward hoping that the toxin was slow to wear off and also deep down hoping that perhaps Batman would want to go another round with her. To test his resolve Harley lowered one hand to her sore sex and rubbed it gently, parting her lips letting Batman see her waiting hole. 

Batman gave a dry laugh and began to right himself, Harley's hand dropped away and she began to gather herself, pushing up with her hands and standing gingerly trying not to tempt fate in her twisted ankle. "What's so funny?" she asked, her arms going across her breasts and one hand pulling down her pulled up plaid skirt.

"I am free of you Harley," he replied.

"Yeah, well it ain't over to the fat lady sings and oh Boy she has a loud voice," Harley now laughed seeing the so sure smile on Batman falter. "You're on candid camera Bat's why don't ya say cheese for the cameras?"



The Batman: Downfall Ch. 10



Then,

When Batman returned to the small lab that Klaus Canon was currently calling home, Klaus had the uncomfortable feeling that the costumed figure was not done with him and he was right. Compared to his previous captors The Batman was a pleasure, Klaus' need to act scared and deranged had started to take its toll mentally and physically. Before Batgirl had turned up Klaus had started to wonder if, perhaps he was slowly going crazy after all at the end of the day there were only so many times you could piss yourself before it became too natural a condition. 

Batman stood in the door way, even through the cowl Klaus could see a brilliant mind working away and in the tight lips, a sense of apprehension of a secret that Batman was conflicted about sharing. Somewhere in that masked head a decision was made and Batman closed the door behind him and walked over Klaus. "At the chemical plant you were working on more than just Batch thirty five."

Klaus nodded slowly, his brow furrowing, "sure, it was our job, it was not the best thing to do, cross contamination and all, but we were expected to maintain multiple projects. Why do you ask?" he knew the answer already, Klaus could hardly believe that the so called love potion had worked the way it had intended. A part of Klaus was thrilled a bigger part was now more scared of just what Batman would do to him when he discovered Klaus had created the toxin.

Batman breathed deeply, he caught the twitch of a smile on the man's dry, chapped lips a glint of excitement in his eyes that was suddenly extinguished with worry. Batman wanted to swing for the man, break his nose or a finger or two, to scare him half to death and have him scream the answers to questions Batman had not yet asked. Batman balled his fists, took a longer breath then said, "Tell me about your work on amantes complectuntur?"

"The lovers embrace? It was the big find at first compared to Oscula Nocte, but when that showed more promise Amantes was side-lined then ear marked for termination. Both plants had the desired side of control that Carlos and Axis was after but Amantes was the poorer of the two in the end."

"What does it do?"

"We had word that a tribe used it in some form of ritual. A ritual for making a woman fall in love with you is saying it in a romantic tone. What it does is affects the brain causing the insula and striatum to become swollen." Klaus ran his hand through his greasy hair, "we needed more time to research but Oscula Nocte showed its true colours and, well you know the rest" he shrugged to finish the story.

Batman took a step forward and grabbed the front of Klaus' shirt pulling him upright and leaning in. "What does it do?" He roared in the man's face.

"We don't know for certain," Klaus replied in a high whimper, when that reply was met with a wall of silence he felt compelled to continue, "we needed more time but it somehow controls your lust engine so to speak. We dubbed it the love potion at first, the simulated tests and the tests on animals showed a massive increase in sexual behaviour all aimed towards the administrator of the drug, at the very least the first person the dosed victim comes into contact with."

Batman loosened his grip catching Klaus by surprise he collapsed to the floor. "You made a batch for Ivy didn't you?"

Klaus nodded, finding it safer to stay on the floor for the time being. "There is no cure, it does not wear off, it will continue to work until you have given in to it and gone with the person who dosed you up. Sex with others will only take the edge of it, but it will return full force."

"You're telling me I need to have sex with Harley Quinn?" Batman said it with a gruff laugh of disbelieve, it somehow made crazy, skewed sense. His reactions to Harley Quinn followed by sex with Ivy and more recently with Barbara. Had that all been the drug though, a little bit of him doubted he had lost all control.

"Sooner or later it has to happen; they know it and are counting on it."

Batman was silent for a moment his back turned to Klaus and head lowered. Klaus found his feet and stood up, one foot behind him ready to flee if Batman turned and took his revenge on Klaus for making the drug. "Then it will have to happen," Batman whispered and moved with pace out of the room.

Now,

Batman now stood before the laughing hyena that was Harley Quinn. His head ached, black flowers bloomed in his vision but the overwhelming feeling was of release. He had given himself to the will of the drug and to his lust he did not distance himself from what he had done but had given himself to it, to drive the demons from his body so to speak. And at last he was free and Ivy and Harley's plan revealed itself to him.

"Look around Bats, this whole place is wired for sound and vision," Harley Quinn did a little dance on tip toes before him, her naked body glistening in sweat, "you think you're free? You are more trapped than you could ever realise. Our little show is viral Bats, the whole world will see it online and see you for what you are, a no good cheating man." Harley stepped in close her smeared make up making her sad face look twisted and rotten, "here starts the downfall of The Batman,"

Batman could not help but smile, "you're wrong Harley Quinn, here starts the new day of captivity for you." He watched the faux sad face twist with worry, he stepped back even before Harley had chance to swing with one clumsy fist. "You failed Harley," Batman taunted.

Harley shook her head, her skin a moment ago was cooling now it was burning with rage, her naked body shook. "We'll see about that," she danced away, a back flip landing her next to her clothes, her phone close by. She picked it up and swiped it open...only the screen was blank. She tried again, the touchscreen remained blank. Harley jabbed at the side power button with equally disturbing lack of positive result. 

Harley looked up glaring at Batman, he tapped at his belt, a lopsided smile on his face, "What is that?" she asked.

"An electromagnetic pulse generator, it has the power to fry all electrical equipment up to a block on full power. Klaus spilled the beans on your little love potion, your insistence on leading me here time and time again had me wondering about the importance of this place. A quick check shows a lot of electricity flowing into an abandoned warehouse, I took precautions." Everything had fallen into place, had he not worked it out, he would have truly been caught with his pants down.

"You knew and went through with it?"

"I had little choice, sometimes you have to become the bad guy to redeem yourself," The cluttered and dirty area became flooded with flashing blue lights from the approaching police cars. Harley howled at the injustice, she turned on her heels and sped for the stairwell. Batman moved quicker even in his bulky suit, he reached for his belt and pulled one batarang free, with a deft flick of the wrist he sent the stunted shape across the room, it found it's mark connecting with Harley's head and sent her tumbling to the ground. 

Before she could get back up, Batman was on her, one knee in her back as his hands grabbed hers. She wriggled like a bag of snakes beneath him, her head whipping back and forth teeth bared and snapping together. When the plastic quick cuffs locked about her wrists the fight dropped from her. Batman heaved her to her feet, the change in characteristics was shocking, she had gone from crazed woman to now pushing her naked backside up against Batman a coy smile on her face, "I always knew you liked the rough stuff Bats."

Batman felt a moment of uncertainty when five police men stormed into the room guns drawn all pointing in his direction, the urge to flee became stronger when four men in riot gear followed. "Freeze," "Hold it right there," "Show those hands," the words were shouted and mixed together a multitude of voices vying to be heard. Batman instinctively moved a little closer to Harley, putting her between him and the armed men.

It was only when Jim Gordon entered the room did Batman feel some sort of levelling of the playing field. "Lower those weapons damn it." He ordered barging through the surprised officers. "She cuffed?" Gordon said as he slowly approached them. 

Batman nodded his response, before entering the building he had called the police hotline and informed them of two of Carlos Constance's associates, one being located here at the docks and the other at Boone Arboretum, an anonymous tip that had found its way up the line and thankfully to the right people it would seem. He could have told Gordon in his office, but then the toxin that was driving Batman would still be present in his system, this way everyone won "You have Ivy?" He asked

Gordon shook his head, "The arboretum was empty, she was there alright but she's long gone."

"That's a lie, Ivy would never leave me?" Harley cried out.

Gordon barked a laugh, "We'll find her Harley and I will make sure she sits in the cell next to yours if you like, but don't expect a view," he stepped up to the woman, her nakedness lost on him. "I am going to bury you and your partner in the deepest cells that Black gate prison has." He turned his attention back to Batman, "We called off the search for Carlos too,"

This news surprised even Batman, "You found him?"

Gordon shrugged, "At the arboretum, what's left of him anyway something or someone decided to split him in two." Batman's first thought was Bane, was he still in the city and working for Ivy? He doubted it very much. Batman had seen what s Ivy's plants were capable of and he could easily imagine Carlos finally seeing what Ivy was capable of too. Gordon took hold of Harley's arm and walked her towards the waiting officers, he turned to thank Batman again but the room was empty.

Vicky Vale had her sources within the police force. Where most news stations had a desk sergeant or a beat cop for inside information, Vicky had gotten Captains and lieutenants on her books. All because she could keep her sources close, it also helped that she knew how to flirt outrageously if she had to. Her news van had found the convoy of police cars and had stuck to them the whole way to the docks, heck she was even out of the van and at the entrance to the warehouse before the cops had managed to grab her and pull her back.

She shouted and complained as she always did and as the cops always did they politely ignored her. It was when they brought out the naked figure that the police officers attention slipped and Vicky found the space she needed to rush the police cordon and made directly for the woman and Commissioner Gordon.

Up close Vicky recognised the woman, Harley Quinn, her make up smudged and running in places, her body athletic and toned, rather impressive Vicky thought. But her nakedness was far more news worthy than Harleys workout routine, "Commissioner, word has it that you have arrested the perpetrators of the town hall attack, is Harley Quinn involved."

Before Gordon could answer with a 'no comment' Harley Quinn jumped in, "I fucked him, let the whole world know I had sex with Batman," she yelled. Vicky's camera man zoomed in on her. "He's just a man in a suit that loves to F.U.C.K"

Gordon swung the cruiser door open and unceremoniously bundled the screaming woman into the back slamming the door shut, "That's not fit to run Vicky and you know it" Gordon said, the police car rocked and the muffled shouts of Harley forced Gordon to talk louder. "Whatever drug they have been working on, delusional behaviour is a sad bi product."

"You will get no argument from me Commissioner. Just give me something to run on the morning news."

Gordon looked at his watch, "Okay, at a little after two a.m. we arrested a known felon in connection with the attack on Gotham town hall, we are seeking the whereabouts of Pamela Isley aka Poison Ivy anyone with her whereabouts is urged to contact us."

Vicky was shaking her head, "I need something juicy Commissioner?"

"I'll give you juicy, Batman's cock is that juicy enough for ya'?" Harley yelled from the car. The camera man was having a field day filming the crazed woman. Vicky looked questioningly at Gordon.

"Run what you want Vicky, but that's all your getting from me." He banged the roof of the police car and it sped of as Gordon walked off.

"You want me to get this uploaded?" the camera man asked, excited at such a graphic and downright dirty story.

Vicky sighed and shook her head, "Run what Vince? Get the sound bite and bin the rest."

The Slinky Kitten, 

Alberto Falcone was tired, his feet hurt and he was certain he had a cold. He wiped his nose on the silk handkerchief and slipped it back into the inside pocket of his jacket. He had walked the streets of Gotham for days now, eager to find Bullock and prove to his father that he was fit to run the family in his demise, fit to do what was necessary. Alberto Falcone was a man of action not of books. But the days had dragged on, the people he spoke to had nothing to offer. He had visited known bars of the on the take cops of Gotham and all he got was that Bullock had discharged himself and was out and about hunting down Batman. Bullock was a big man and a clumsy one which made Alberto's failure to find him even more infuriating. 

The thunderstorm the day before had taken him by surprise and he had gotten soaked through which was where his cold had come from. He spent the morning and the afternoon re-treading old ground, his temperature rising and his sinuses aching as the time went by, until he finally threw up his arms in defeat and had retreated, not to his apartment but to one of his father's strip clubs in the needles. 

The doormen at the Slinky Kitten recognised him and let him right in. The Manager Jimmy 'two fingers' Carmine had rushed from his office to greet him, all sweat stained shirt, coffee breath and greasy hands. Alberto tried his best to hide his grimace as he shook the man's hand, his revulsion increasing as the man refused to let go as he led him through two red curtains and into the VIP area. "You wanna girl?" Jimmy asked all eager to please his boss's son.

The girl called Tammy that came in a few minutes later was small with short cropped blonde hair, heavy breasts and a large ugly cold sore on her thin lips. He drank a cheap whisky as the girl danced for him he was surprised at his own arousal. His cold and her ugly cold sore had put him off, but when Tammy had removed her top and her breasts bounced free, he had sat up a little straighter. He beckoned her closer and she had diligently straddled him. "You know who I am?" he asked, his voice sounding deeper and a little more rugged that it usually did thanks to the cold, to Alberto it made him sound more manly.

Her breasts were inches from his face now as the girl continued to gyrate to some awful redneck country and western song. Her movements not really in keeping with the tempo of the music but that did not bother Alberto. "Sure, you're the man in charge around here." She replied her voice pure hick. As the song ended Tammy arched her back, arms above her head and Alberto gave into his lust his head moved forward and his mouth opened as he took one of her breasts into his mouth. Tammy yelped in surprise but remained seated even going so far as to grind down on his lap.

Alberto's mouth came away from her breast, his spittle covering the pink, erect nipple and some of the pale flesh around it, "That's me, I own this town." He said, not wanting to disappoint Tammy. He sat back as she fumbled at his trousers. 

His cock was already hard when Tammy pulled it from his silk boxers, she gasped and cooed as she took hold of his small cock "so big, so juicy," she said with some aplomb, hiding her overwhelming urge to laugh at its small stature. Tammy doubted he would last long, though Jimmy had told her to keep Alberto occupied until his dad turned up. Slow and easy was not Tammy's style but she did not want to end up in hospital like the last girl that had wronged Jimmy.

Alberto closed his eyes, enjoying the slow movement of Tammy's hand. His cold was a thing of the past, blotted out by the surge of arousal. He only came back to the present when Tammy told him she was going to suck him to heaven and back. She had said it close to his face and he had seen the cold sore up close and personal, his stomach had tightened and he had dug his hands into her hair pulling her away from his cock. The thought of the cold sore anywhere near him repulsed him, his mind flashed an image of a huge sore and chapped cold sore where his cock used to be.

Tammy moved off of Alberto's lap and quickly pulled her pink hot pants off, the equally bright pink thong stayed on as she straddled Alberto once more. Alberto pulled the flimsy material to one side his thing fingers finding her sex dry and unwelcoming. He rubbed and stabbed with his fingers until she finally opened for him, she moaned and ground down on his hand, once she was suitably ready Alberto pulled his hand free and quickly jabbed his cock into her.

The sex that followed was predictable as it always was when Alberto came to one of these places. Tammy continued her line on how big he was only this time gasping as she moaned out how big he felt inside her she gyrated and screamed as if he were tearing her apart. Tammy went as slow as possible, though she wanted it over and done with as quickly as possible, Jimmy had been quite firm on keeping Alberto occupied. 

It was taken out of her hands though, Alberto had his face buried between her breasts, his hands squeezing them painfully, his hips jerking sporadically began to speed up, his muffled cries becoming more audible between her ample breasts until with one last push and strangled cry he came in her. 

Alberto never understood why people called it an awkward silence after sex to him it was the perfect thing. The silence allowed him to bask in the glow of fucking even with a skank like Tammy it had its charms. He silenced Tammy as she made pointless small talk one hand held up to her face was all it took. She sat next to him, breasts still out, thong back in place but now stained and wet, he looked her up and down, "what are you waiting for?" he asked.

Tammy went to reply then bit her lip, she stood up and grabbed her top and hot pants, she slipped into them trying to delay stepping out beyond the curtain, she knew Jimmy would be there with a face like thunder and a flick knife ready to remove a digit or two from Tammy if she had not brought enough time. "You made my night Al?" Tammy said as she started to leave, it was stock line that most of the clients in the Slinky Kitten seemed to like hearing.

Alberto perked up and motioned for Tammy to stop, he reached over to his coat and fished out his wallet, he dipped in and half pulled a hundred free before he changed his mind and produced a twenty instead, he waved it at Tammy.

Tammy thanked him as she took the single bill, though her eyes were saying "fuck you Al." He watched her walk out of the room the curtains draping back together as she passed. Alberto was putting his limp, wet cock back when the curtains were pushed aside and someone else walked in, he was expecting another stripper, Jimmy was in a generous mood which made Alberto wonder what Jimmy had done wrong.

Alberto almost caught his cock in his zipper when he saw Harvey Bullock standing there. He swallowed hard, adjusted himself and finished zipping up, "You are a hard man to find Officer Bullock." He said trying to sound like seeing Harvey here was expected.

Bullock shrugged, "Perhaps that's because I don't want to be found."

Alberto smiled and opened his arms, "But now here you are," Alberto knew with a simple shout he would have Bullock surrounded before the big man could pull the gun that was no doubt hiding in his coat pocket out. "You look like shit still."




The Batman: Downfall Ch. 10



Bullock nodded looking about the room his face still bore sores and scars from the chemical factory, though the sickly coloured skin had begun to return to its usual cheery self. Bullock walked over to the long sofa that Alberto was sat on and sat himself down on the end of it, "Interesting place to hide out in."

Alberto frowned, "I am not hiding out you idiot." He said.

"Really?" Bullock replied surprised, "If I had James Gordon gunning for me, I would be hiding out if not skipping town and the whole continent if I could."

Alberto laughed, "Oh Bullock, is this a last ditch attempt to save your sorry ass." He put on a gruff voice as he continued to talk, "Don't kill me or my Commissioner will be angry."

Alberto went to shout out as Bullock pulled his service revolver from his coat pocket, he only stopped when the man handed it to him, "Kill me if you want, no doubt this town would be better without me, hell you can even pass it off as suicide." Alberto took the gun, with practiced ease he broke it open and counted six bullets. "But Gordon won't avenge me, his daughter on the other hand."

Alberto pointed the gun directly at Bullock, it was point blank range no chance of missing, "Okay, I got time to kill," he chuckled to himself before he continued "I'll bite what is this about Gordon's daughter?"

"You not heard, she was attacked and raped in her apartment, they got a suspect," Bullock pointed at Alberto, "All-points bulletin for the arrest of Alberto Falcone."

Jim Gordon had wasted no time in putting out a call for Alberto Falcone's arrest and with little surprise Carmine Falcone was being filled in on the surprise a few minutes after that, three or four on the take cops phoning through eager to please their boss. Bullock hoped to God that Batman's plan went as smoothly as he claimed it would. Harvey was staring down the barrel of his own gun and right there and then the plan seemed a really bad idea.

"I call bullshit and you are still a dead man," Alberto cocked the hammer back. He would have heard about it the moment he walked into the joint...was that why Jimmy was being so nice, greasing up Alberto waiting for the cops to turn up, no that was not Jimmy's style...waiting for his dad to turn up on the other hand. When the penny dropped was the moment the lights went out. "What the hell?" Alberto shot up the gun clattering to the floor.

Beyond the curtain's he could hear people shouting, drinks crashing, tables being upturned. A gun went off, followed by another in rapid fire and Alberto almost shit himself, there was a hidden exit somewhere in the room but the cold panic that enveloped Alberto took all sense from him, leaving his mind blank with fear, "It's him." Bullock said his voice trembling a little.

"Dad!" Alberto said in response.

"Not Daddy Al, the other him, Batman." Bullock said and he grabbed the gun from the floor.

The curtain parted and a giant black figure passed through, Batman stood between the two men and the exit an immovable object. "Alberto Falcone you're coming with me," Batman said in a soft tone that dripped with certainty.

Alberto felt a hand on his chest and found Bullock pushing him away from Batman and putting himself between them, his gun pointed at Batman. "Here we are again Batman, you staring down the barrel of my gun, only this time toxic fumes are not going to stop me."

Batman took a step forward but Harvey refused to back down, "He is wanted for the brutal attack of Barbara Gordon, one way or another he is coming in."

"Over my dead body," Bullock shot back.

"Have it your way," Batman replied and darted forward, the gun was snatched from Bullocks hand at the same moment a powerful elbow connected with his ribs knocking the air from his lungs in an explosive exhale, before his brain could comprehend what was happening his legs were swiped from under him and Bullock landed heavily on his back.

Alberto rushed for the exit while Batman went to work on Bullock, one hand managed to take hold of one of the red curtains, the fabric thick in his grip. Alberto let out his own squeal as the collar of his shirt was yanked, he flew bodily backwards his death grip on the curtain pulling it from its fixings as he went. The air was pushed from his lungs as the black mass that was Batman pushed down on his prone body, "Alberto Falcone you are worthless scum that is going to spend the rest of his life rotting in a prison cell."

The gunshot made Alberto's ears ring, the flash in the dark confines blinded him. One moment he was unable to move the next Batman was flying from him, tumbling across the ground as more shots rang out one after another. Even with all the bullets expelled from Bullocks spare piece, Harvey continued to pull the trigger, the hammer hitting nothing but air. "Fucking freak," Harvey yelled. Bullock tossed the gun to one side and grabbed his service pistol where Batman had tossed it, "Get up you lazy idiot," Bullock shouted holding out a shaky hand to Alberto. Alberto took it and his light frame was yanked onto wobbly feet and both men stumbled out of the room and into a room of men pointing guns at them.

Carmine Falcone was stood in the centre of the group, his hands knitted together in front of him, "Well, well, well Detective Bullock how nice of you to finally show up." He nodded towards his son and one man stepped forward and took him away from Bullock, "Drop the gun," and Bullock reluctantly did. "You made a mess in here Bullock,"

Bullock laughed, "Me? You think I took out this place,"

Carmine did not enjoy being laughed at, but he swallowed hard biting back what he wanted to say. He took another look around at the carnage that the street lights could show through the clubs open door, "Then who was it."

"Batman," Alberto replied instead, "He came for me, wanted me for raping a girl. Bullock saved me"

Carmine nodded, he had heard the news of the rape it was sad no doubt about it and he felt some sympathy for James Gordon, Carmine after all was a family man. What he could not stomach was the fact his son Alberto, was the main suspect. The few incidents before this were easy to bury, in two cases quite literally but now we were talking about the Police Commissioners daughter that was not so easy to hide. "Where is he, where's Batman?" Carmine asked and took an involuntary step backwards.

Bullock motioned back into the VIP room and Carmine dispatched two very nervous looking men to check it out, they came back out a minute later looking relieved. "He's gone boss, went through the hidden exit."

Carmine relaxed a little, his men feeding off this lowered their guns and relaxed also, Carmine looked about again, squinting into the gloom his mind working away. "Okay let me get this right you just happened to turn up moments before Batman and saved my son." Bullock thought about it then nodded, "You see that's not your style Bullock," Carmine waggled a finger back and forth in front of his hawk nose, "Something's not right with this set up."

"I came here for Al you got that right but not to save him, I was going to straighten something's out between us then I was going to sell him back to you or the cops, whoever paid the most." Bullock said, controlling the nerves that were threatening to be the undoing of him.

Carmine laughed, "Well now I have my son and you, so what's stopping me shooting you right here right now."

"Honour," Bullock played the card Batman had told him would work, "The Falcone's are known for their honour Carmine, I saved your son. Batman would have fed him to the cops and right now he'd be in an interrogation room spilling his guts on your little operation. "

"Honour eh? A damn corrupt flat foot is talking to me about honour." Carmine shook his head and bit his lower lip, "Out you go boys," he finally said, his eyes remaining on Bullock. Around him his men walked out, Alberto sandwiched between two of them. "This stinks Bullock, I don't know how yet but it does. What do you want?"

"To be left alone," His reply came instantly, "no bounty on my head, no accidents heading my way, no messages, nothing. In return I don't touch you or yours." 

Carmine Falcone, the biggest and deadliest of the crime family bosses, stared long and hard at Harvey Bullock, his eyes boring into him. Finally the man nodded, a simple up and down of his head "Have a nice life Officer Bullock," he said then turned on his heels and walked out of the club.

Bullock had waited until the sound of cars had disappeared into the distance he waited another twenty minutes on top of that before finally venturing out of the club. To be sure he even went back to the VIP room and took the secret exit, which lead him to the rear of the club and out behind a large dumpster overflowing with refuse. With unsteady hands he searched his pockets for cigarettes and came up empty. The sky was beginning to lighten and the gloom of the alleyway clung on desperately, a shadow broke away and approached Bullock, "Well they brought it, I don't know how but they did." Bullock rubbed at his ribs, "Did you have to hit me so hard?"

"It had to look real," It had been the only way, real punches and real bullets. Curiosity would get the better of Carmine and someone would be in to look at the casings every angle had to be covered. 

"Well it felt real believe me, for a moment there I thought he was not going to buy it, we got lucky this time." Bullock had never been so scared, but now standing here a free man so to speak scared him even more.

"It's the only time we need to be lucky. The rest is up to you now. Gordon needs good men like you to help get this city straight." Batman looked down the alleyway to the lightening sky, "It's a new day Officer Bullock, make the most of it."

Outskirts of Gotham City,

Selina Kyle was waiting for Bruce at the city limits, a large battered and bullet hole ridden sign thanked travellers for visiting Gotham and the hopes of seeing them again. Selina was sitting on the rear end of a classic red sports car, the paintwork vibrate in the noon sun when Bruce pulled up to the side of the road and stepped out of his sedan. The smile on her face lifted his spirits for a moment, just seeing her did that to him, but had he not felt the same way when Barbara smiled at him. As he approached she pushed herself from the car and met him half way her arms opening and they hugged.

"Thank you," Selina sighed into his chest, "For saving me."

"I think you will find you have Batman to thank for that."

She hugged him even tighter, "Same difference." She gave a deep sigh then looked up at him she went to break the hold but found herself kissing him instead, long, deep and perhaps for the last time.

Finally she broke free, "Whoa there," she took a step away, "Let's not get carried away. So what did you make of my offer?" The offer she spoke of was one that Bruce had found on his mobile phone upon his return to Wayne Manor that morning. It was a simple offer it was an offer to leave Gotham City forever.

"Selina I..." her laugh broke his sentence, she knew what was coming she always did.

She took his hands and led him to the sports car, then turned him around. The Gotham skyline rose up before them, it dominated the Horizon, its tall towers pulled the languid blue sky down, "See, you are not in Gotham and it is still standing. Sooner or later you have to turn your back and leave make it sooner than later." He turned back to face her and he knew instantly she had seen in his eyes there was more to it than that. "Who is she?"

The words of truth bit deep, he could see the hurt cross her face then disappear as she repressed it. Selina crossed her arms as if suddenly cold, "That's why you did not visit me in hospital isn't it?" She dropped her arms and gave him another hug, "Bruce I cannot wait forever you know that don't you?"

He found it difficult to find a reply to her, she was right. "In the boot of the car there is a bag packed with essentials, I drove here with the firm believe I was ready to leave it all behind. So much has happened I am tainted by it all. But the more I stand here the more I need to go back." 

"Back to her?" Selina sighed, "You make so damn difficult to hate you when you get like this. Does she know your secret," He replied with a nod and she whistled long and low, "Serious then. I won't say I am a little jealous Bruce." She leaned in and kissed him, "After I finish touring with that damn diamond I might just have to come back to town and see this woman for myself."

"About that diamond, at what point did you switch the real one for a fake?" he asked. Back at the museum not long after Harley Quinn's attack Batman had scanned for evidence, it was only out of curiosity that he had scanned the diamond, it was a fake a good one but a fake never the less.

Selina gave a loud laugh, a laugh that walked a fine line between crazy and happy, "Picked up on that did you. I guess the next time I am in Gotham you will just have to stop me to find the answer." She walked around to the car's driver's door and climbed in a smile stretched from ear to ear, like the cat that had gotten the milk.

Bruce watched her go, the back wheels of the sports car digging into the soft soil a cloud of dust and stones flying skyward as the engine gunned and she sped off. He waited until the distinctive red became a dot then disappeared before he turned around and faced his city once more. There she stood, the sun glinted of tinted windows of the tallest tower blocks, a container ship moved with agonising slowness down the Gotham River and towards the sea. Traffic moved back and forth along the bridges that were her arteries, the island of Gotham her dark beating heart. Selina had asked him who she was. Who held him in Gotham, one answer was Barbara Gordon. That was the good answer, the clean answer. Though to Bruce Wayne and Batman it was a trick question as there were two answers, the other answer was before him, Gotham City was the other woman. 

Gotham General,

The damage sustained to Barbara Gordon was worse than first thought. She had lost all feeling below her waist yet with extensive tests doctors could find no sign of lasting damage, the issue it seemed was now mental. Bruce had not slept for days now, last night's final play had taken so much out of him, he felt guilty and dirty outside but inside he was free of Harley Quinn, the news had nothing on Batman and Harley only her arrest. Now sitting at Barbara's bedside he felt his head becoming heavy, the soft beep of the machines lulling him towards sleep.

"You look worse than I do," Barbara's voice was groggy but to Bruce it sounded like music, his head came up from his chest an easy smile on his lips, "Busy night?"

"You could say that, they caught Harley Quinn and Carlos Constance is dead." Bruce reported in, he saw the alarm in Barbara's eyes, "Batman had nothing to do with it. Looks like Ivy had her hands in that."

Barbara nodded resolutely it had come to an end with or without her. "Did you speak to the doctors? Did they tell you about my legs," Bruce nodded, "I can help still, Oracle is a big job I doubt Alfred can do it on his own and..." she swallowed hard, tears lined her eyes, "We need to find him still."

"I will find him and he will pay Barbara but without you. This is too much for you like this, you need time to heal, go be with your father."

"You cannot cut me out Bruce, I need this." The tears came rolling down her cheeks.

Bruce stood up, "Then prove it." He said then left the room.

Soon after Bruce's visit, Barbara was discharged; Jim Gordon collected her and brought her to the home she had grown up in. For two weeks neither of them spoke much, her physical wounds began to heal but her mental ones seemed more ruptured as time went on. Barbara hardly slept now, her father would find her staring out of her window at bedtime and wake up to find she had not moved. Her phone remained with in grabbing distance, even in the bathroom while showering the phone would be close by, waiting for a call from Bruce Wayne that never came. 

Those three words had taken up residence in her head, when she woke up screaming, covered in a film of sweat, shivering as the dream and her sweat evaporated, those three words would drift out of the fog of sleep "Then prove it." It had been such a direct, final statement one filled with little pity for her situation, but offering her a way out that she had not seen before.

The Bat Cave,

Alfred was in awe of Oracle, he had told Master Bruce time and time again of its ability to think one step ahead of them in tracing evidence and finding links (though sometimes a little too oblique) allowing Batman to move in the right direction in his pursuit of cleaning up Gotham. Bruce stood at the terminal now, his mind not truly on the job. Bruce found it difficult to concentrate since saying goodbye to Selina no matter how hard he tried her last kiss was still fresh in his mind and on his own lips. 

Bruce tapped at the keyboard, his eyes hurting from so much data that he squinted even through his reading glasses it had been a long night, his arms ached and one rib felt tender to the touch Bruce made a mental note to get Alfred to look at it when he came down later on. Sleep was elusive as it ever was for Bruce Wayne when he had so much on his mind. His feet took him in the direction of the elevator but his mind pulled him to the dojo and his feet followed. The makeshift lab that held Klaus Cannon was now gone and the sparing mat had found its rightful place once more.

His workout flowed naturally, the kicks lay flat all the invisible opponents, his punches found their mark in phantom guts and faces even with his rib screaming he did not hold back, the pain made his mind a blank slate, Harley Quinn slipped free, Selina faded, Barbara...lingered. Bruce's roundhouse fell short, he stumbled forward landing awkwardly and he fell to one knee, breathing heavily, sweat dripping from his face and pooling on the training mat.

His head lifted up as the elevator doors swished open Alfred stepping out in his usual straight back, shoulder straight way. It was only when he gave a quick look behind that Bruce realised someone else was with him. Bruce found his feet and stood up, one hand going to his rib and rubbing it absently, he had not seen the second person as they were in a wheel chair, the red hair, tied back in a severe bun still made Barbara stand out.

Bruce remained at the centre of the training mat, his face a mask hiding the smile that so desperately wanted to spread across his face. He waited patiently as Barbara wheeled herself across the platforms and towards him, Alfred remained near the elevator a small look of worry on his face his hands knitting together then falling apart as he worried. Finally the wheelchair came to a stop at the frayed edges of the training circle. "I need this, and you need me." She said her eyes wet with tears that threatened to flow at any moment. Bruce remained still, giving nothing away. "I can do this," she said through gritted teeth, her eyes gave way and her pale cheeks glistened with her tears.

"Then prove it." Bruce replied.

Barbara swallowed hard, her eyes closed as she took control of her emotions. Her hands tightened on the arm rest of the wheel chair. Her face reddened with the effort, with a gasp of desperation and exertion one foot lifted from the wheel chair and landed with a defiant stamp on the training mat.

Bruce gave a nod, "Let's begin,"

Prologue

Porto Areta,

Juliana had watched in amusement as the ineffectual local police attempted to take control of the Axis Chemical building. Up on the top floor she had watched the streets far below fill up with an assortment of police vehicles, when she got bored of the view she turned her attention back to the computer and to the file transfer she was currently conducting. 




The Batman: Downfall Ch. 10



Phone lines had been cut prior to the raid and so had the power, though the police had forgotten about the backup generators, but they would not last forever, Juliana had to work fast she had started the download earlier that day prior to the police turning up, the power cut had slowed things down, the screen showed her ninety eight percent completed but it had been stuck that way for the past ten minutes.

The horn blast from the street below pulled her away once more from Carlos' personal computer. Juliana showed her first sign of annoyance as her fist slammed hard on the glass panel. The Americans had finally turned up a mix of CIA and homeland security no doubt, one thing was certain they were more focused than the local police. Juliana watched them access the building in little less than two minutes, her time here was up.

She pulled the memory stick with little care for file corruption at that point, she sat down on the leather office chair and spread her legs, the memory stick slipped inside her and she gave it a final push to make sure it was secure. She stood up feeling a little peculiar as she walked out of the office and headed first for the lift then changing her mind she turned right and headed for the stairs.

Juliana had given the American agencies a little too much credit, she had moved steadily down the stairwell, pulling her hair into a pony tail as she went and donning a pair of thick rimmed black glasses, she stepped out into the foyer and was met by a dozen or so agents and police. Juliana screamed hysterically when an overzealous agent pointed a Sig -Sauer in her direction, she adopted her practiced dialect of Chiapaneco and began to babble while repeatedly crossing herself, it had been something she had seen on television and had amused her. 

Her display attracted attention and the agent was quick to push her towards the rotating doors at the front of the building and escorted her out onto the street. Juliana continued her act as she walked away, one had held to her head as she went a few more meters she reached the stone steps and beyond Juliana was lost in the crowd.

The limousine was waiting only a block away, a small group of street children had gathered close by and were eyeing up the vehicle daring each other to go close and ask for money, each one of them declining the dare. Juliana walked steadily to the car refusing to look over her shoulder, she reached the rear of the car and one door opened and she stepped in.

The only other occupant of the car sat in still silence, his eyes scanned the small computer tablet in his hand he made no motion to say he had noticed Juliana enter the car. Juliana parted her legs and removed the USB device. She found a napkin and cleaned herself from the sleek plastic casing before placing it next to the man, "It is all there, all of Carlos' files and emails. The virus is also in place, by the time the Americans get to the files there will be nothing left for them to sift through." Juliana removed the glasses and pulled her hair loose from her pony tail. She could thank her father, the man who sat motionless before her for her long black hair and sun kissed complexion. 

The man lowered the tablet and looked briefly at the USB stick then turned his attention to his daughter, "The loss of Carlos is perhaps a blessing in disguise Talia, his vision was not one that I was ever comfortable with."

Talia Al Ghul nodded in agreement, "The young man that once shared your vision, died a long time ago when corporate greed took hold."

Ra's Al Ghul agreed and felt sad for the loss of one that had been such an ardent follower, "what has been done cannot be undone, not for the likes of Carlos atleast." Ra's smiled grimly, he looked at his tablet quickly, checking the time. He tapped the intercom to speak to the driver, "The airport."

Talia picked up the tablet and looked at her father's appointments, "Doctor Jonathan Crane? He is weak, unskilled, what use is he?"

Ra's shook his head smiling knowingly to himself, "Wait and see my Daughter, do not judge a book by its cover."

The End

*****

A Thank You

Thanks to everyone who has commented on the chapters and have emailed me with thoughts both positive and negative. I have listened to it all and on my next fan fiction work will use what I have learnt here with Batman and grow.