The ambulance tears through the streets of Neville at a rapid pace. A pale
hand with green fingernails grasps the jittering, squawking radio and
clicks the button on the microphone. "Punchline time." he says, and
giggles dementedly. 

In the dispatch room, a woman scratches her head. "Punchline...what the
heck does that..." A club comes down on her head with a sickening thud,
and she slumps sideways out of her chair onto the floor. Hands stuff her
under the desk. Other hands pull the w ires from the radios, cut the cords
on the floor, claw hammers pull the computer chips from the equipment. 

In the lobby a security guard sits idle. Two of the parents in the lobby
rise and approach him. "Can I help you?" he says. "Sure." the woman says,
and her pistol makes a tiny popping sound. The receptionist takes in a
breath to scream, and his pistol makes one, too. 

Doctors enter the rooms and take all the children that can walk out of
their beds. "We're going to a movie." they tell them. "Right in here." A
large room in the middle of the building...the nurses looking nervously at
men they have never seen before. They know they have guns, but the
children don't. 

The ambulance arrives at the rear entrance to the hospital.

Someone coming to the front entrance sees a sign on the door. "Visiting
Hours Are Over. Please Call Again." He shakes his head a little. 

Upstairs, beds are pushed into corners. Electronic equipment is set up. 
Loudspeakers. Wires. Amplifiers. Microphones. Cameras. Two men emerge from
the rear of the ambulance, one tall and thin and pale, with laughing eyes
and a broad grin, and the other malnourished-looking and slightly dazed,
or drugged. "It's show time." the tall one says to the dazed one. "Oh, you
look -terrible-! Makeup!" 

Across Gotham, TV sets that are desperately tuned to the few stations that
are slowly but surely returning suddenly blur, and jump, and the familiar
yet hollow face of a newscaster they all know and trust stands before them
in a large room filled with children. "Ladies and gentlemen of Gotham," he
slurs, definitely drugged, "Welcome to the greatest show on Earth...the
Joker Comedy Hour, with your host, the Joker...a live performance at the
Veteran's Memorial Children's Hospital, with hundreds...of special
guests." He gestures vaguely to the children.... 

Veteran's Memorial Children's Hospital(#1293R)

The Gotham Veteran's Memorial Children's Hospital is one of it's finest
old buildings, dating to the turn of the century. From the outside, it
looks a bit shabby, though, as grime and soot from the smoggy sky have
settled onto the statues of Civil War and Revolutionary War soldiers that
stand mute guard before it. Inside, though, it is more modern, and it is
this hospital that many affluent Gotham parents bring their children to.
The hallways are sterile and well-lit, the rooms cheerily-colored but
equally clean. 

Contents:
Gordon
Batman
The Batmobile
Obvious exits:
Out <O>

Gordon

        The man before you seems to have one of those aura's that most
people seem to respect. He stands an average height of 5'9", ad loooks
fairly trim. While his white hair and mustache may sometimes give away his
true age, he appears to be in the same shape he was some 20 years ago. His
blue eyes are covered by a pair of wire rimed glasses that are always
worn.
        He is currently wearing a pair of dark slacks, white shirt, vest,
and tie. When he is outside these cloths are usually covered by a long
trench coat. Like all officers he also carries his firearm, and badge with
him at all times. His coat pocket also caries his pipe and tobacco, even
though he has quit the habit. 


Batman

        You see before you a large figure of a man...6'2" and around 220
lbs, with a broadshouldered and extremely developed physique. He is clad
in midnight black tights, with similarly shaded gauntlets, boots, and
shorts. You see the symbol of his calli ng emblazoned upon his broad
chest...a yellow disc, with the stylized black silhouette of a bat upon
it. About his waist is clasped a yellow metallic belt, with several thin
modular compartments hooked to it, sleek and well polished. His forearm
length gl oves each have a trio of spiky protrusions, coming from the
forearm down to the elbow in increasing size. His features are mostly
shaded by the black cowl covering all but his jawline, his eyes a pair of
narrowed white slits. A pair of narrow 'ears' point up from his head, and
about his body is a long flowing dark grey cape. The cape moves around him
as if at his mental command, swirling off into several talon like tapered
ends. This is the Batman...Crimefighter, Enigma, Servant of Justice. 


Sirens blare down the streets as the GCPD nears the scene. Gordon listens
to the radio then picks it up "The TV? What?!? Dam Dam Dam..." He swears
as the officers enter the area. 

Outside, the sound of a turbine pierces the night air. It grows louder. 
More distinct. A trucker swerves as he sees something sleek and impossibly
fast appear in his rear view mirror. Then roar past him. Towards the
Hospital, around the back. The sleek black thing swerves impossibly,
seeming to do a complete 360 without a fender touching a signpost or curb. 

Gordon and the officers immediately see that things are bad. The window
shutters are shut. The doors are shut. Nobody is around the
place...yet...Though there is a single open window on the second floor,
and a small platform has been set up there with a microphone on it.

Gordon steps out of his car and serveys the area. He motions to another
officer "Okay I want the command post right here... Get the choppers over
here too I don't want anyone leaving." He points to a couple locations
"Spot-lights there and there... and make sure this area is cornered off. I
don't want the press to be in our hair too much." He hrms "It's a hostage
situation, and we all know how those end up with a madman like the
Joker... so this time lets make sure it doesn't turn into a masacer." 


The panel in the back fender of the Batmobile drops and slides to the side
with little sound other than the scrape of the mechanism. A slender
metallic rod appears, with something attached to the end of it. The
something drops with a slight clatter onto the pavement around the rear of
the hospital. Treads can be seen on the box like black thing's base. It's
the size of a shoebox, but a good deal more heavy. It rolls silently
towards a rear access door, and stops by it, a lens in its front whirring
as it focuses.

The officers quickly move to do as Gordon says.

The rear access door is metal and closed.

The surveillance drone pans across the impassive looking metal sheeting,
and sends what it sees back to the sole occupant of the Batmobile. A few
keys are pressed, and a small red light appears above the drone's camera
eye. A small, high intensity laser torch begins cutting a small
hole...about one foot wide and six inches high...in the metal door. 

Gordon glances up at the hospital window and speaker then grabs another
officer "And someone get me a TV over here." 

Helicopters roar up over the skyline of Gotham...people start to
gather...trucks containing more police officers
arrive...sharpshooters...hostage negotiation
teams...SWAT...ambulances...someone brings a portable TV and sets it up
near Gordon. The newscaster drones on, "...how the innocence of these
children warm our hearts. What's your name, son?" The camera focusses
unsteadily on a child with a cast on his leg. "Billy." he chirps. "How old
are you?"...et cetera. Around back, the hole is cut, and the metal clanks
to the ground inside. The room beyond is dark and uninhabited. 

The drone rolls into the room, switching to an infravision sweep as it
moves. It rotates a little, and heads towards the nearest exit. Meanwhile,
the figure in the Batmobile watches the TV feed on the main monitor. The
slight glow from the monitor shows little of the face of the viewer, save
for a deep set frown. Another key is pushed, a switch turned, and the
parabolic microphone aboard the Batmobile pops up from the roof. It
swivels as it tries to place people and sounds on the three story
building. 

Gordon looks at the TV "God... he's got so many shields in there we'd need
a miracle to break through them all..." He looks to the hospital oO (Hope
he's listening)Oo

Gordon gets on his radio "Okay Peteti I get the SWAT team ready. But with
the children around we'll have to hold off on the gas for now.." 

Batman thinks . o O (More children. As many as he could hope for. Enough
hostages. Too many.) 

A hysterical parent in the crowd breaks down and starts crying...someone
kind gives her a blanket...more people arrive, dozens now...cars jammed
into the side streets, though emergency crews are still arriving...fire
trucks... 

On one little screen, the drone swerves into a nearby hallway, though this
one is lit, and seems to run the length of the building. Infrared shows
two someone's approaching down a stairwell. On the other little screen the
newscaster says "Sally, why are you here in the hospital? Can you tell
me?" Sally nods, and her little pigtail bounces up and down. "'Cos I got
asthma and had an attack when I was playing kickball." 

From the parabolic microphone, there is a vast sound of noise from a large
room on the second floor, close to the rear of the building...little sound
from the first floor, stepping feet, indistinguishable conversation...from
the third, the same...even these sounds are being drowned out by the
activity in front of the building. Police officers start to come around
the side of the hospital, carrying barricades, unrolling tape... 

Gordon receives the various reports as they come in, then spots all the
people that continue to gather. "Dam thing is turning into a cirus... " He
motions to some officers "Make sure no-one gets through those police
barriors" 

"Yes, sir!" an officer says. Someone on the radio says that he's at the
City Archives and is going in to get the floor plans for the building.

The paraboilic slides back into its housing as the Dark Knight looks
impassively at the monitor. He taps a command, and the drone speeds down
the hall, away from the stairwell, heading for the cover behind a plastic
wastecan. Splitting the monitor screen into two views, another series of
taps bring up a link to the Batcomputer. "Computer. Latest schematics for
Veteran's Memorial Children's Hospital. Rotate." Two opaque eyes stare at
the two images...one of a naive child in the grips of a horror she could
never understand, and one of the dull photostat of an old hall of records
blueprint. The second image spins and fixes on the accesses leading from
the first to the second floor. 

Gordon nods to Sarah as they go over a plan, "Things are going to get bad
fast... We'll have the SWAT team standing by, but hell we still arnt sure
how many bad guy we have in there." 

A stairwell. "Do you like kickball?" Four air vents, too small for a
full-grown man, but smaller children...or gas...might pass through. 
"Yessir." Another stairwell on the opposite side. "Where do you go to
school?" An emergency stairwell. "Public #213. I like it there." Two
elevators, side by side. "Yes, are you having a good time here tonight?"
The elevator shafts. "Yes, I like movies since the TV got shut off." 

As the drone hides, a pair of men come into view...the microphone picks
up, "...ransom from this is going to be huge." "No kidding. We'll all take
home at least a mil." They sound nervous, and are looking around a lot. 
One looks at some papers in his hands. "Okay, uh, we have to check the
ambulance bays, the loading dock, the emergency exit, and the two back
exits...you go this way, I'll go this way. Remember to make sure the
basement door is unlocked." 

Silently scanning the various screens, the Batman points to the schematics
on the screen with a gauntlet encased hand. For his own reference he runs
over the spacing and placement of the stairs and elevators. And looks hard
at the air vent layout. Hearing the somewhat fuzzy microphone feed from
the drone, he begins viewing basement entrances, and their relation to the
air vents. Ocassionally, an eye will drift to the images of the children,
and the stare at the other screen intensifies each time. 

The basement has no entrances from the street level except a single
stairway (the emergency stairway) and air vents, and the city maps don't
actually map the basement...it must be older even than the building... 

Gordon glances from the hospital to the others at the makeshift command
center. Finally the hospital blueprints arrive and he starts going over
them with some others. Gordon then motions for one of the negotiators,
"Try to establish contact with someone inside the Hospital."

The negotiator nods and begins setting up a phone console. "Get me the
phone layout for the hospital." he tells his assistant, who immediately
dials the phone company and starts getting faxes. 

The negotiator tries the main line. "It's disconnected at the source. We
can ring the extensions directly, though, once we get the information." A
doctor points at the middle of the second floor. "That's the room on the
TV." he says. 

A query appears on the screen. It reads 'Unable To Access. Unable To
Locate Record.' The Dark Knight Detective frowns a little more, if thats
possible. He taps in a command, and the drone begins following one of the
two men, images of the man's shoes mostly in the camera's eye. Glancing at
a glove, he tugs on the end and flexes his fingers. . o O ( No time for
more recon.) He picks up a small satchel, and takes a trio of blocky
cannisters, each with a red bat symbol on the side, and a magnet on their
bases. He puts these back in the satchel, and then presses a key on the
inside of the canopy roof. It slides back, whisper silent. 

Batman pages: Said cannisters are motorized fans that have a mister that
sprays out sleepin' gas. Just sos you know. 

Gordon looks to another officer "Also try to see if anyone is trying to
call out. I want all calls relayed to here. It'll cost us a bundle, but
it'll but it willcost more if we dont" The command post seems to grow with
different equipment being brought in, FBI and other out of town helpers
now show their worth. 

The newscaster turns from the children and starts walking away. "Now,
let's talk for a moment with the man who made this all happen." The camera
pans left and there he stands, large as life and twice as grinning.
"Joker, what have you got there in your hand?"

The Joker throws an arm around the newscaster. "Glad you asked." he
burbles musically. "This little guy is the button that sets off the
charges that makes this whole place go up in smoke. This button here is
the explosives, this one here is the incendiaries. Or was it the other way
around? Or did I put toxin in them? Anyway, it's pretty nasty stuff." 

The newscaster reads dully from an unseen but clearly-there teleprompter.
"But, wouldn't that kill you, too?" 

The Joker's response is cavalier and accompanied by a brilliant wide grin
and a sparkle of those eyes. "Oh, yes!" he cries. "But wouldn't it be
worth it to give your life for these poor children?" 

The newscaster says "Why Joker whatever do you mean."

The Joker pats him on the cheek. "Wait and see." he says, sneering.

Batman takes a small palmsized device with a minature monitor in its
display. He cues up the drone's view, then slips out of the canopy. As the
shielded compartment shuts behind him, the Caped Crusader hitches the
satchel over a shoulder, slips the mini-monitor onto his belt, and draws a
grapple gun from his side. .oO(Toxin /and/ a bomb...need to work fast) 

There is sudden motion out near the platform. A sharpshooter, on the
radio, from a window of an adjacent building says "Someone's moving around
behind the platform, do we go? Do we go?" A lieutenant says "For god's
sake, no, it might be one of the kids. Get positive ID before firing."

An officer motions to Jim " Look at this Commissioner..." He says pointing
out the TV "The guy has the place rigged." 

With a soft coughing sound, then a hum, the grapple gun fires it piton
onto the roof of the hospital. Pulling the line taut, the masked man's
fingers grip onto it, hand over hand and legs twined around the slack
line. His ascent is rapid and silent, like the clamber of an insect up a
tree limb. In this way, he ascends to the roof.

Gordon hrms and looks more upset, if that is possible.

The negotiator says, "We've got a ring." And sure enough, even through the
TV, as the camera comes with the newscaster and the Joker down a hall, you
can hear a phone in an adjacent room start to ring. The Joker looks at the
room. "Get that, will you?" he barks to a subordinate, who opens the door.
"What should I tell him?" the thug says. 

Joker turns and looks right into the camera. "Tell him it's show time.
I'll call him back." 

Gordon takes the phone quickly "Hello? Hello? Joker"

The thug's voice says "Joker's busy." on the phone. Suddenly there is the
sound of a child's cry across the phone. The roof is deserted except for
the weathered faces of the statues at the corners, which stare blankly at
nothing. 

Batman thinks . o O (...I remember this building. Mother took me here
once. Cut from a fall from one of the estate trees. Its uglier than I
remember. And colder.) 

Batman's brow bunches as he scans the roof. He refers to his mini-monitor
again, watching the drone's progress for a few moments. He then cues up
the schematic again, looking for the location of the emergency stairs and
elevator shafts relative to his current position.

The crowd, by now quite sizeable, gasps as a young boy, about seven, is
pushed up onto the platform, followed by the purple-clad figure of the
Joker himself almost bounding up onto the rickety stage. He holds the
boy's neck by a purple-gloved hand and gestures wildly with the detonator.
The police radio erupts with static as the sharpshooters all say 'clear
shot' at once...but will shooting the Joker knock the boy off? Will it set
off the detonator? Firemen rush forward with a net...but a burst of
gunfire from one of the closed windows cuts across their paths.

The emergency stairs emerge onto the roof at the other end of the
building, and a few air vents stick out onto the roof, humming ominously,
but there's nothing else. 

Gordon curses under his breath. He hands the phone back to the negotiator
"Keep that thing ringing till I get /him/ on line." He then looks up "Dam
gunfire... get down people." 

Batman's lip twitches, his shoulder heaving under his cape. He keeps away
from the ledge, scowling bitterly. He backs towards the roof access to the
emergency stairs. He looks at the doorway with a studious expression,
looking for the trip for the alarm or possibly any sabotage of the Joker's.

The alarm is on the inside, and would be difficult to access. Oddly, the
door is open slightly. This is -very- suspicious. 

Batman slips a mirror from his belt (yes, a simple handmirror), and turns
it on the outside angle of the door, adjusting it to get a look at what
he's dealing with. 

The Joker's voice rings out on a hidden loudspeaker system, whipping
across the crowd as he speaks into the microphone. The camera hangs behind
him and reveals the vast crowd before him, "Parents of Gotham!" he shouts,
almost triumphantly. "I have brought you what you always wanted!" The
crowd is murmuring with horror. "I have brought you a method, one hundred
percent foolproof...to keep the innocence of your children pristine for
the rest of their lives! They will never again have to see a dirty movie,
or read a book that you don't like! Never again will they spend hours on
the Kawatendo or watching trash on TV!" The echoes rebound around the
street. 

The voice stabs into Batman's ears like razors. But he keeps his
concentration on his plan. Pushing back images of his mother holding his
hand in the waiting room, or soothing him while the doctor cleaned his
childhood injury.

The Joker lowers his voice to only a murmur, his eyes narrowing a little,
"That -is- what you want, isn't it?" It's still loud enough to be heard in
the back row. 

The mirror reveals nothing out of the ordinary, except that the door is
open, and a tiny black thread across the door, stuck there with pieces of
cellophane tape. Hm. 

Batman pages: Tripwire? Does I think I can cut it without killing myself
or alerting the whole place? 

Gordon watches the TV and just shakes his head "He won't kill himself..
he'll never do that... but who knows about the children...." 

The Joker throws his hands in the air, momentarily removing them from the
boy. "I mean, that -is- what innocence is all about, right? That's why we
like it so much! Because they'll -never have to be like us-." 

You paged Batman with 'No, it's just a little piece of black thread and
two pieces of cellophane tape, attached to nothing.'. 

Batman puts the handmirror away. He slips through the opening as best he
can, glancing up and down as he moves through the doorway. 

When Batman looks up, there's a yellow smiley face that has just been
painted on the ceiling, with spray paint that has just stopped dripping,
probably not three minutes before. It leers at him mockingly. Beneath it
is the single word "Hi". 

Batman thinks . o O (An invitation. I'd hate to disappoint him.)

Gordon motions to a few officers, he nods then looks to the building "Keep
talking you madman... that just gives us more time to plan." 

Pausing, the mysterious vigilante takes a moment to begin a breathing
exercize, remembering his lessons in a far off country; lessons taught to
him by an oriental master who told him how to become unseen and unheard.
He begins his descent into the former house of healing...

The Joker suddenly giggles dementedly, and this makes the crowd positively
recoil. "Yesss..." he hisses. "We sure do love innocence. But I'll bet.
I'll just bet we don't love it enough that we won't pay to get rid of it.
That's right, parents of Gotham. I want two hundred thousand dollars for
each child in the building, in cash, and in return for that, I -won't-
keep them innocent for the rest of their lives..." He looks down at the
boy. "Well...what's a little money anyway, right kid? I'll protect yours
for free." The boy looks terrified, petrified, and the Joker's
purple-gloved hand shoves him in the face, hard, and he tumbles
end-over-end downward...the crowd lets out an involuntary shriek of
terror...the firemen race forward again, now heedless of the bullets...one
in the lead drops his end of the net and puts his head down and sprints
towards where the boy falls...the boy smashes down onto him with a
sickening thump, knocking the fireman cold...the Joker's shrieking
laughter spits out across the speakers. "One hour!" he says. "I've got
company coming." And then he is gone. 

As Batman stealthily descends the stairs towards the third floor, he can
see a small device, probably an explosive of some kind, sitting, unhidden,
on the step just below the third floor landing. 

Batman eyes the explosive, pausing to kneel by it. He attempts to disarm
it if its not terribly complex...if it is, he notes is size and location. 

Gordon blinks as the child is pushed, hand is thankful for the fireman. He
looks to the officers around him "Okay we have one hour... ideas are
welcome..." 

It's not actually terribly complex, but there is a mercury switch on it,
and the wiring is underneath, making it a delicate thing. 


SWAT wants to storm the building. That is clearly wrong. The negotiators
want to try to send someone in: they point out that nobody is firing as
the firemen cluster around the boy and their fallen comrade and begin to
carry them both away...(the boy is alive, but also knocked unconscious.)
SWAT points out that the kids are in the big second-floor room, they can
shoot tear gas into an office windows, punch right through the shutters.
Sharpshooters are thankfully silent. Bomb squad looks a little helpless. 

Batman shakes his head in silent anger. .oO(Too unstable. I'd have to take
every precaution in the book...by the time I'd finished with this, it'd be
too late to save the kids from the others he has planted here...) 

Gordon looks to Sarah "You tell SWAT to stand by till I give the order. I
don't care what they say. And I'm not putting another person in danger via
a negotiator, so just keep trying the phones." Sarah nods and relays the
orders over the radio." Jim glances at the hospital again and hrms.

The negotiator keeps the thug on the phone, then suddenly looks alarmed.
"It's him." he mouths, covering the microphone, then pointing frantically
to the phone before Gordon. 

Batman stands, and turns towards the next landing. (...and there's always
others.) He goes to the door to the third floor hallway, and studies it
warily before moving through it. 

The door looks unremarkable. The hallway up here is well-lit, and runs the
length of the building. All the doors are open. Down the hall, someone
says, "No, don't bother...he made the demands, now we just wait." "Okay." 
someone says closer to Batman. Both are on the same side of the hall, on
the front side of the building. 

Gordon takes the phone quickly "Joker?This is Gordon."

Batman pauses in the doorway to scan his drone's progress downstairs. He
then draws his cape closer about himself, and flits down the hallway with
silent tread. He moves into a side doorway if either of the Joker's men
further down chance a glance back in his direction. Moving in a zig-zag
pattern up the hallway, he comes closer, and closer yet. 

Joker's sneering voice comes over the phone. "Betcha wish I'd saved Babs'
innocence, too." It's definitely him. "If he's not in the building, you're
in the stink deeper than if I'd thrown you in the diaper bin in
here...phew!" 

"Did you hear something?" "Nah." They're both dressed like doctors, but
they're in separate rooms, calling out to each other through the hallway. 

Gordon snears silently. His hand grips tightly around the phone "What do
you want Joker?" 

Joker chuckles lowly. "You know what I want. He'd better be here or else
you get to add two hundred fourteen more to the list." An officer
listening shakes his head and flashes Gordon two fingers, then one finger,
then -five- fingers, emphatically, shaking a list of the occupants of the
hospital. 

Batman takes out a handful of small metallic marble-like spheres. He drops
them onto the floor outside of the doorways the men are talking through.
They clatter on the tiled floor a bit loudly. He falls back into another
doorway, and waits, a sweeping edge of his cape caught in his fist.

Gordon nods to the officer then speaks into the phone "But you'll be one
of them Joker. You know you're not getting out of there." 

They both spin around. "What the hell?" one of them says. "I heard
-that-." the other says. "Did you tip something over?" "No," says the
first...they're armed with submachine guns, and they step forward
cautiously... 

Joker laughs again. "Do you really believe that, Jimbo?" The phone goes dead.

Batman calls out in a seething whisper "Come out and get me..."

They both curse. One says into a throat mike, "He's here! He's here!" They
extend the guns and start shooting, the bullets punching through the
ancient walls with spurts of plaster, aiming for where they heard the
voice, sort of between the two doorways. 

The sound of the gunfire trickles out to the officers and crowd.

A black and seemingly winged shadow skirts between the two door ways, cape
raised over the face of the running figure. 

Joker turns around in the office and strides out as a thug whispers in his
ear. "Reeeeeally?" he says, clapping his hands together. "How frabjous. 
Third floor? Good. I owe those two money anyway." He throws open the door
to the large room of children, who quickly fall silent, except for the
infants, who don't recognize or can't see him. He covers his eyes and
points at the child sitting nearest him. "Eenie." he says. 

Gordon dams as the phone goes dead, and slams the phone down. He then
takes some cover himself. He radioes "Find out where those shots are
coming from. If you have a clean shot take it. But/only/ if it is clean." 

The two thugs start as Batman rushes before them, and they move towards
the hallway...the one nearest Batman says "Go!" And the other rushes out
into the hall, gun blazing...his stance unsure as he slides a little on
the marbles.... 

(OOC) Joker says, "Can we leave it a cliffhanger, fellas? I'm starting to
fall over, and i still have half an hour drive to get to my GFs place." 

(OOC) Batman says, "Yeah, looks like that'd be best."
(OOC) Joker says, "Okay...well done, bofe of yas...see you tomorrow, prolly."

In our last episode, we saw Batman menaced by thugs in the upper hallway,
as the Joker begins to select a child amongst the hundreds in the second
floor meeting hall, and as outside the police weigh their options, coming
up with less and less...but the worst is yet to come! (cheesy
wannawannawannawanna Batman trumpets) 

The Dark Knight aims a foot at the solar plexus of one of the thugs as
they stumble out into the metallic marbles he planted, cape whirling as he
adjusts his stance. 

The thug is struck hard in the midsection, his gun barks and a spray of
bullet holes arcs across the ceiling. The second, wiry, cigarette dropping
from his mouth, forgotten, fires two distinct shots at the dodging Batman,
more to give him time to set his stance and get a little distance, than to
hit him. 

Downstairs, the Joker says "Meenie." and points at another child at
random. 

The bullets leave a pair of pockmarks in the wall behind the fleeting
black form of the vigilante. Rearing back a fist, the Batman ducks under
the gunarm of the first thug, and tries an uppercut at the second one's
jaw. 

The thug's face spins towards the wall, his lip split. He swings his gun
upwards, using it as a sap. The other thug is knocked backwards, his body
thumping against the wall; he brings his gun around again. 

Reching a hand up to block to attempt gunwhip him, the Caped Crusader uses
the momentum of the swing to twist the thug's arm and throw him overhead,
onto his back. 

As Batman swings the other thug down, the first thug fires, the bullets
cutting through the air over the crouched pair. The thug lands hard, the
wind knocked out of him, the gun clattering from his hand. 


Downstairs, the Joker says "Miney."

Batman just shoves his elbow in the direction of the standing punk's face,
letting out a feral grunt as he lashes out. (Stalling you Bruce...slowing
you down...)Oo. 

Aforementioned punk dodges and takes aim again, holding his other arm out
for support against the wall... 

Batman drops onto the ground, foot sweeping out in a full circle as he
tries to trip up the troublesome criminal. 

The gun CRACKS once, then the man's feet are swept out from beneath him,
and he, too, falls.

Downstairs, the Joker says "Moe."

Batman sees the man fall, and turns, cape fanning out around his sides as
he twists to look down the hallway. He starts running for a boarded up
window, his face a mask of anger. 

The pair scrabble for their guns and fire just as Bruce reaches the
window, the bullets whizzing towards him as they squat, unbalanced on the
floor. 

Downstairs, the Joker gives a smile, his pale hand still covering his
eyes, a smile that broadens and lengthens, of maniacal or hysterical
intensity, and says "Larry." A murmur rushes through the kids. He's -not
doing it right-! His pale finger arcs a green fingernail towards a child
in a wheelchair. "Curly." he says, pointing next to an infant being held
by a nurse. "Curly -Joe-." he says, pointing to a freckle-faced girl.
"Although," he explains suddenly, removing his hands from his eyes and
expounding to the girl. "He was never as good as Curly."

There's a mighty sound of shattering glass and wood as the Batman hurls
himself out of the window. His cape wraps around him as he bends his body
into a forwards flip. He ends the aerial somersault with his face
skywards, an arm flinging a line and batarang for a ledge on the second
floor. (...if I'm too late...)Oo. Jason Todd's tortured visage passes
through his mind as the building's facade races alongside of him. 

The crowd gasps, the spotlights swing up, the sharpshooter's radios echo
with 'What the..?' 'Holy...' The crisscrossing shadows of the late
afternoon Gotham skyline arc crazily beneath Batman, above the sky is grey
with thick clouds, the air outside is thick and heavy and tastes strange
after the antiseptic cool air of the hospital. The batarang catches easily
in the crumbling damp plaster facade of the building. The gunmen appear at
the broken window, but only for a split second, as a police Lieutenant
shouts "Go three!" into her radio and the sharpshooter's rifles, in the
buildings opposite, distant, sound like a sudden burst of staccato
rainfall. 

The Joker covers his face again and points randomly. "If he hollers, let
him go, et cetera. Et cetera. Et cet. Er. Ah." And on the last 'ah', he
uncovers his eyes. A little brown-haired boy leaning on a crutch stands
there. "Perfect." he coos, gently tousling the boy's hair, tugging at his
arm gently. "Let's go." he says with a grin. The boy obeys with an air of
paralyzing terror. The pair move for a side door to the meeting hall. 

A thug says "Where you going, boss?" The Joker grins back at him and puts
his broad hat on his head. "You -know- where I'm going." 

Ignoring the red-rimmed bullet wound in his shoulder, the Dark Knight
Detective grips onto the line as it pulls taut. He pulls himself up with
an almost self-destructive urgency, and arrives near the ledge in a matter
of seconds. He reaches to his satchel and draws forth one of the
cannisters, arming it and sticking it alongside of the windowsill with one
hand. 

The door closes behind the Joker and the kid. The men with the guns left
behind look at each other in obvious confusion. Something's wrong, and the
nurses and doctors and children immediately sense it, restlessness
sweeping over them like a wave, but at the first sign of movement, the men
with the guns just train them more firmly on them. "Siddown!" one says.
"You ain't going nowhere!" Some children start crying. The newsfeed goes
dead. 

The windowsill is impassive. Either the gunman behind it is waiting, or
the room beyond is empty. 

Batman grips the top of the frame of the second story window, and kicks at
the boarded window itself with one black boot, biting back the sting from
the strain put on the wounded shoulder. He falls forwards into the window,
coming up in a crouch, his eyes white hot with a rising dread and hate. 

Someone is in the hall, maybe two someones, moving past at a trot, a gun
over his shoulder. He looks into the room. "The Bat!" he cries, bringing
the gun around in surprise. Running footsteps sound in the hallway,
confused cries of "Where?" and "What's happening?" Something is wrong,
something is not in the Joker's script. 

Batman hits a switch on his belt, and puts a gas mask over his face. Hazy
smoke roils in after him, rising, and clinging mostly to the celing as it
crawls behind. As the sleep gas is blown in through the window, the Dark
Knight raises his cape over the lower half of his face, and charges the
gunman. 

The gunman doesn't notice the gas and fires blindly at the charging
Batman, yelling all the while...In the hallway, the more cautiously
approaching thugs see the gas...there are three, emerging from a room from
which the cries of infants shriek out. "Gas!" one cries. "Where's the
boss?" says another frantically. "He didn't...he didn't set off the..."
Their guns are drawn, but they do not at once fire, as the Batman bowls
over their comrade. 

Batman levels off three jabs at the face of one of the encroaching men,
turning and kicking into another one's path as he tries to move through
the morass as the gas makes its way through the doorway. 

The Joker shoulders open the ill-lit access stairway door and shoves the
boy down the stairs ahead of him, humming "Happy Days Are Here Again", the
child fumbling with his crutch and falling down the last few stairs. The
Joker picks up the child, hands him his crutch back, dusts him off, and
essentially carries him under his arm down the next flight. "The -skies-
a-bove are clear again! Oh let us sing a song of joy again! Happy days are
here again!" 

The thugs respectively flinch backwards and fall downwards, the gas
creeping along the floor to their gasping faces. Suddenly the remaining
thug seems even more unsure. He ducks back into the meeting room and slams
the door shut behind him, with the sound of bolts locking into place. A
man's voice from inside shouts, "What the hell are you doing?" He shouts
back. "Shut up! He's right outside!" The man shouts back "You #&*)@!" Then
the noise of the children starts to rise, as their captors argue amongst
themselves...

Batman turns from the slowing melee in the hallway, stepping over one of
the collapsing thugs. He eyes the meeting room doors, and makes a fist.
Closing his eyes, he rears back the fist, centering himself before he
strikes at the probable location of the main bolt.

The door splinters. The man inside shrieks involuntarily, and screams of
fear go up from the kids.  A shadow cast against the cloud rising behind
him, the Batman's hand rises and falls, a batarang cutting through the
air, aimed at the nearest two gunmen. He strides forth with the steady
concentration of an automaton, though his mind is racing with a myriad of
images. His mother soothing him. A smoking ruin where a boy's shattered
body lies. A laughing face displaced amidst the smoke. 

The 'rang thumps against the forehead of the first, who slumps over a row
of chairs, and the second cries out in pain. The rest of the gunmen are
pretty much evenly spaced around the room, and though their guns are
pointed in Batman's direction, they do not fire, perhaps involuntarily
realizing that there are rows and rows of sick and injured children
between them and him...there is, of course, no sign of the Joker except in
Batman's fevered imagination. 

The door says "Basement Access". The Joker says "Come on, sing with me,
kid!" The kid says nothing, just staring into the blackness beyond. 

Batman looks with seething disgust at the rest of the Joker's gang. "Drop
your weapons...now." As if for punctuation, he flings a pair of razorwings
out, hoping to disarm another thug. 

One steps forward, gesturing with the gun at a side door. "He left, man.." 
he quavers. "He left, he ain't here no more. And he took the detonator..." 
He looks down at the gun in his hand as if he'd forgotten it was there. 
"Oh, &*&#@#." he says, and drops it. "Come on, let's get out of here." he
says to the other men, "Hell if I'm going to get blown up just so he can
kill..." He looks over at Batman and heads for the opposite side door at a
flat run.