"What have we got Detective?" asks commissioner Gordon.
"Five dead guards, four dead nurses, and six dead orderlies," replies Bullock.
"Do we know who did it?" asks Gordon.
"Take a guess," says Bullock as he stops the E.M.T.s from leaving with a body.
The bulky detective unzips the body-bag and reveals the face of the person inside. It's one of the nurses, her face frozen in a sick mockery of a smile. The effects of Joker's deadly toxin some call 'Smyl-X'.
Gordon lowers his head, and quickly zips up the body-bag again.
"They took refuge in the panic room as soon as sh^^ hit the fan, Somehow Joker and Quin managed to pump that Smyl-X stuff into the room through the air vents. They all died laughing."
"Do we know how many escaped?" asks the commissioner.
"We're still tryin' to figure that out, Why the hell would Joker want to release the rest of them nuts into Gotham anyway?"
"Probably thinks it's funny, That, or it's a diversionary tactic. Keep us chasing everyone but him and his girl."
"What does Quin see in that clown anyway?" asks Bullock.
"Maybe he makes her laugh, Or maybe she just has a thing for the bad boys."
"Barbara ever go through that phase?"
"No, thank God, and I pray she never does."
"So what now?" asks the detective.
"Keep collecting evidence, I'm going up to the warden's office to see if I can figure out who managed to escape."
James Gordon heads up the stairs to the warden's office, and sits down at his desk pulling out a cigar to smoke.
"So how bad is it?" he asks the darkness.
"Bad," Some of my worst enemies managed to break free" says a raspy voice from the shadows.
"How many?"
"Enough," replies the voice.
"And where were you during all of this?" asks the commissioner.
"The Thomas Wayne Memorial Children's Hospital."
"Visiting sick kids while Harley Quin was breaking her boy toy out of the nut house?"
"Something like that, I was disarming several bombs that Harley Quin had set up throughout the hospital."
"What, Why haven't I heard about this?"
"Because I couldn't risk telling you, She said that if she detected any police within a three block radius of the hospital, she would blow it up. I thought it might have been a diversion, but I couldn't risk innocent lives."
"Were there even any real bombs at the hospital?"
"Yes. But whether or not she had the ability to detonate them from Arkham I don't know. But I disabled all of the timers and removed the detonators. I'll detonate the bombs safely in my Batcave later."
"So don't you have anything for me and my men?"
"Of course," says Batman, and he tosses a file onto the desk, "That is a complete list of all of the people who have escaped tonight. I've included my own lists of known associates, likely hideouts, and aliases that they're known for using. With any luck, we can catch them all before they cause too much damage."
James Gordon picks up the file and looks through a few pages. There's information here that they don't even have back at the precinct.
"Thanks," he says, "and what will you . . ." but when he looks back up, Batman is gone, " . . .be doing," he finishes to the empty room.
--------------------------------At the edge of town, crossing the Gotham City limits and heading straight into downtown, rumbles a big, black, nondescript van. It's driver is a middle aged man, with a strong jawline and short black hair. He's wearing a black leather trench coat. His eyes are steel gray, hard, and almost emotionless. But behind those eyes is a seething rage. And he's bringing that rage to Gotham.
ALL CHARACTERS AND SETTINGS ARE PROPERTY OF DC COMICS
I REALLY hope you enjoy this.
Batman: Punishing Gotham - 2
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