Disassociation

Chapter 4 Thrills and kills


Bruce found himself slumped in his chair, the board room was empty except for Fox who was stacking papers. With a groan Bruce let his head fall forward smacking against the expensive table with a loud thud. He stayed there, unmoving. Fox looked up and chuckled at the young man. With all of Bruce’s responsibilities, it was easy for Fox to forget just how young Bruce actually was. Boyish antics such as this reminded Fox that despite his adult obligations and X rated life style, Bruce was a man still very young in years.

“It wasn’t that be Mr. Wayne.” Fox called across the long table.

“Speak for yourself;” came the mumbled reply, “everything from my ass down is numb. I don’t even think I can stand.”

Fox chuckled again and finished sorting out the paper work while Bruce sat slumped over on his face. After a few minutes a faint snoring could be heard and Fox shook his head with a smile.

“Kids,” he mused, “They can sleep anywhere.”

By the time Fox was done with his paper work, Bruce had been sleeping for at least twenty minutes. Fox hated to wake the young man, but he had a feeling Bruce had other things he needed to be attending to. He walked over and looked down at Bruce, noting the small puddle of drool. If only the world could see the real Bruce Wayne, perhaps then unfriendly comments about his private life wouldn’t be made. Bruce was, more than he even realized, his fathers son. Fox shook him softly and Bruce sprung awake.

“What, what is it? What happened?” Bruce asked, whipping his mouth. He went to stand but his legs were asleep and he ended up back in his chair.

“It’s time to go home.” Fox said softly.

“Thanks for everything today Fox.” The older man nodded and walked away, when he reached the door he turned back to Bruce.

“Oh Mr. Wayne?”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t forget your drool.” He smiled and left Bruce looking down at the small puddle of drool on the conference table. When he was alone Bruce smiled and shook his head, whipping at the puddle with the sleeve of his suit. Once he was finally able to stand Bruce looked at his watch, it was almost nine o’clock and he had work to do.

“Shit.” He mumbled to himself, grabbing his coat and exiting the room quickly.
Alfred was waiting for Bruce when he arrived home and took in the young mans disheveled appearance with amusement.

“Hard day sir?”

“You could say that.” Bruce said with a yawn, running a hand through his hair.

“I often wonder sir which is more tiring; being batman or a billionaire?”

“Billionaire.” Bruce said with out missing a beat as he ducked into a secret compartment in the wall.

“How did I know he’d say that?” Alfred said as he walked away with a smile. By the time Bruce was fully in his bat suit he was wide awake. He flipped on the news while he put on his belt and frowned when he heard the news anchors frantic voice.

“A mass breakout at Arkham Asylum has now been confirmed, over thirty patients were spotted fleeing the scene, this and more from our reporter on site, Adam Cushland. What’s happening down there Adam?”

“It may seem chaotic down here on lower Sixteenth Street Mary, but we have confirmed that there is a leader in this madness.”

The camera showed about a dozen patients collecting in the distance where homes were being ransacked. A thick smoke was issuing from that area and the screams of hundreds of people, and gunshots echoed in Bruce’s ears.

“The police are overwhelmed down here and the smoke seems to be affecting everyone it touches. Our cameras just managed to catch a glimpse of the leader, correction, two leaders in this uprising.”

Bruce felt a chill race down his spine as he stood motionless in front of the screen. He didn’t need the reporter’s commentary to recognize the two individuals taking center stage in the unfolding drama. The horse, the scythe, and the face paint were all confirming his worst fears.

“The hooded man riding the horse appears to be the criminal mastermind known as the Scarecrow. The other individual who you just saw jump off Scarecrow’s horse Mary is confirmed here to be Gothem’s newest mastermind known only as the Joker. At the present time we seem to have lost sight of the Joker but…” A scream reached Bruce’s ears as the camera was wrestled away. It went black but the sound was still rolling.

“Adam, Adam are you alright? Ladies and gentlemen it appears we have lost contact with….No wait the film is coming back on line. Adam what just happened?”

The Jokers face appeared on the screen, fading in and out as the camera was obviously now in his hands.

“Mary now is it? So sorry Adam is not here right now,” he angled the camera down at a lifeless body, “because he appears to be dead.” The Joker laughed and licked his lips.

“Gothems finest don’t seem to be doing the trick, bet ya wish the batman were here to save you,” he giggled insanely, “gotta run, welcome to chaos Gothem!”

The feed ended with the Jokers crazed laughter and by that time Bruce had seen enough. He turned off the TV and rushed to his bike. In the madness, Bruce knew his presence would go almost unnoticed so he sped towards the scene. Just as Bruce and Gordon had feared, Scarecrow and the Joker appeared to have joined forces. With Gothem still shaken by the Jokers earlier attack, Bruce had a feeling that the death toll would be extreme. It also appeared that the Scarecrow had released his fear toxin, which would complicate matters beyond comprehension. Bruce knew he had to get to the scene fast and at this point descretion was the last thing on his mind.

Bruce road out into the night with determination written all over his face. Like a good Commissioner, Gordon would be down in the heat of the action with his men and Bruce would be damned before he’d let something happen to Gordon. The man wasn’t just a sign of hope for Gothem, he was a friend and Bruce had lost far too many.

The streets were packed with police and special operations vehicles, not to mention hords of infected individuals suffering the effect of Scarecrow’s fear toxin. Bruce’s first priority was to find Gordon and with the help of Fox’s sonar device it didn’t take him long to do so. The older man was hunched over by the side of a police car radioing in for more backup. Bruce was relieved to find that Gordon had come prepared with a gasmask and was so far unaffected by the toxin. When Gordon saw him he stood up, ducking gunfire to join Bruce under the awning of a nearby building.

“Boy am I glad to see you, its out of control down here.” He shouted over the noise.

“Are all of your men equipped with gasmasks?” Bruce asked.

“No, maybe half. We were poorly informed at the station. The call came in about the Joker, we weren’t expecting that lunatic Scarecrow to be with him.”

“You have to get your men out of here if they don’t have masks. Use them to evacuate the uninfected. The others can handle the escaped patients. My targets are Scarecrow and the Joker.” Bruce said.

“The Joker’s completely disappeared from the scene, the only one left is Scarecrow, but we can’t get near him.” Gordon replied, ducking more gunshots.

“Like I said, leave Scarecrow to me.” Bruce stated darkly.

“I’ll do as you suggested, good luck!” Gordon called out as Batman readied his bike and vanished into the mayhem.

Note: I plan on adding either two chapters next update or making the next chapter really long I have not decided yet. Hope you all are enjoying the story so far. Please comment. I love hearing what you have to say. It encourages me to write more for some reason. XP